Mumbai woman books No Broker's Diwali cleaning service, loses gold worth ₹4 lakh

Diwali 2024: A Mumbai woman lost gold ornaments worth ₹4 lakh after she booked a cleaning service for Diwali, through the No Broker app. The woman, Leena Mhatre, 55, discovered the theft after the cleaners from the service left her house.

The Maharashtra Housing Board police identified three individuals after checking the CCTV footage. Arbaz Khan, 27, who is believed to be the primary suspect in the theft, has been arrested, while the other two have been detained for questioning,  the Free Press Journal reported.

The No Broker app has blocked the IDs of the three suspects after the incident came to light.

Two cleaners arrived the next day

On October 21, Leena Mhatre, a resident of Rishikesh Society, Dahisar East, an upscale locality in Mumbai, used the No Broker App to book a cleaning service for Diwali. Two cleaners arrived at her home the next morning around 9 am. However, after they left, she discovered that her cupboard had been opened and her gold jewellery was missing.

Realising she had been robbed, she quickly contacted the police to report the theft. Police have since arrested 27-year-old Arbaz Khan, the main suspect. After reviewing CCTV footage from the society, the police identified two others, Santosh Omprakash Yadav and Sufiyan Nazeer Ahmad Soudar, who are currently being interrogated.

‘Very few people comply with the rule…’

Investigating officer Sandip Gorde said that all companies are bound by the law to conduct a thorough background verification before hiring any employee. He further advised that such checks should be conducted even before hiring a domestic helper, which could otherwise become a safety concern.

“We are investigating whether No Broker verified these employees before assigning them. The app has since blocked their IDs. As per regulations, not only cleaning staff but all service employees should undergo police verification before being hired, even if anyone hires a domestic helper. However very few people comply with this rule,” Gorde said, according to the FPJ report.