Bangalore:
Crime, the adage goes, does not pay. It did however pay Manjushree handsomely for nine years till she was arrested by the Madiwala police on Wednesday.
Manjushree and her partner-in-crime Nagesh burgled affluent city homes and sold the stolen valuables to jewellers.
Nagesh would wait in Manjushree's Maruti van and keep a watch, while she broke into the house and cleaned it of all valuables.
Following Manjushree's arrest, the police corroborated the accounts of theft narrated by her, by visiting the scenes of crime and matching her fingerprints with those found at the houses that she had burgled.
Manjushree, a resident of Hosakote had employed Nagesh, to assist her in the burglaries.
She would drive around the city in her Maruti Van with Nagesh to identify suitable targets, and decided on the day and time she would break into the targeted home.
After the deed was done, Manjushree and Nagesh would attempt to sell valuables to jewellers posing as a couple in dire straits who had family jewellery to sell.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (South East), BNS Reddy said, "Manjushree's husband Umesh is lodged in Central Jail. He has been charged with an attempt to murder."
With easy money thus earned, Manjushree reportedly spent lavishly on food and clothes.
"So far we have detected 11 cases of housebreak and theft by matching her fingerprints. Investigations to ascertain her involvements in other crimes continue. We have formed a special team to crack the increasing burglaries. Various witnesses had reported seeing a Maruti van at the scene of the crime. This helped us zero in on Manjushree," Reddy added.
"We are investigating where she stored the booty and how she made money out of it," said Madiwala police Inspector, ML Purushotham.