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A 47-year-old woman has been arrested for allegedly stealing gold and diamond jewellery worth Rs 25 lakh from the family of actor Raveena Tandon after allegedly gaining their trust while assisting the household as a caretaker, Mumbai Police said.
According to police, the accused, identified as Rashi Chhabria (47), allegedly stole heirloom jewellery and luxury wristwatches belonging to Veena Tandon, the 86-year-old mother of actor Raveena Tandon and film producer Rajiv Ravi Tandon. The complaint was formally registered on May 18 following allegations that the valuables had been stolen from the family's residence in Juhu. Police said Chhabria is accused of allegedly breaching the family's trust, gaining access to a secure safe and stealing family heirlooms valued at approximately Rs 25,00,000, including gold and diamond ornaments and expensive wristwatches. According to the official statement given by complainant Rajiv Ravi Tandon (59), a resident of Tandon House, Juhu, the suspect was introduced to the family in 2020 through a mutual friend. Following the passing of Tandon's father in 2022 during the COVID-19 pandemic, Chhabria frequently visited the household under the pretext of bringing meals and assisting the elderly Veena Tandon. In August 2025, due to ongoing renovation work at the Juhu residence, several highly valuable items. including family wedding jewellery passed down to Veena Tandon, were locked away for safekeeping inside a wardrobe safe located in a first-floor bedroom. The theft came to light on October 2, 2025, ahead of the Dussehra festival celebrations, when Rajiv Tandon went to retrieve the jewellery for his mother. Upon inspection, he discovered that the safe had been forcibly broken into. Missing from the vault were approximately 350 grams of gold and diamond jewellery alongside two expensive wristwatches. When confronted privately, the suspect, Rashi Chhabria, initially denied involvement but later confessed to the crime. She returned the two stolen wristwatches and admitted to pawning the jewellery with the assistance of two accomplices, identified as Jagdish and Sanjay Kale, promising to retrieve and return the items shortly. However, despite multiple follow-ups, the jewellery was never returned. Instead, the complainant faced severe intimidation. The suspect's accomplice, Jagdish, who claims to be a police informant, allegedly threatened Tandon with false implications in a fabricated narcotics case if the family pursued legal action. Realising that the suspect had no intention of returning the stolen heirlooms, Tandon approached the authorities. Following the complaint, the police have officially initiated criminal proceedings. The case has been formally registered under the relevant sections of the law. Investigations are currently underway to track down the primary suspect, Rashi Chhabria, her named associates, and to recover the stolen valuables. (ANI)
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