Noida: Domestic help sedates elderly couple, steals cash & jewellery worth lakhs

NOIDA: A 22-year-old domestic help allegedly fled with cash and jewellery worth several lakhs after serving spiked tea to an elderly couple and another help staying with them in a posh Noida locality on Sunday night.
The elderly couple — Janak Sachdeva (70) and Sudesh Sachdeva (65) — and the help remained unconscious for over 14 hours till a third domestic staff arrived at the house in Block D of Sector 27 on Monday noon.
The Sachdevas stay alone in their house while their two sons live in Delhi and Noida, respectively. A lawyer by profession, Janak previously practised in the Delhi HC, but now works as a consultant for corporate firms.
The couple has a full-time domestic help, Roshni (18), but recruited another for strenuous household chores.
A few weeks back, the couple’s car cleaner Sanjay, who is from Nepal, arranged another domestic help for them — a woman who identified herself as Lakshmi. She was staying with the couple for the past 12 days.
Around 10pm on Sunday, Lakshmi allegedly served tea to the couple and Roshni. Police suspect the tea was spiked with Datura plant, which led to the trio falling unconscious within 10 minutes.
Sector 20 SHO Munish Chauhan told TOI that Roshni fell unconscious near the bathroom of the first floor while the couple lost consciousness in their bedroom.
While the trio fell unconscious, Lakshmi ransacked the house and stole Rs 3.5 lakh cash and jewellery and clothes worth lakhs from the almirahs in the rooms of the couple, according to the complaint.
Around 12 noon on Monday when another domestic help arrived at the house to wash the couple’s clothes, and she saw the trio lying unconscious.
“The rooms and the lobby had vomit spilled over, suggesting how the trio struggled after consuming the spiked tea. She informed one of the couple’s sons who arrived and rushed them to a hospital,” the SHO said.
The three victims are said to be stable, police said. Both Lakshmi and Sanjay have been absconding since the crime. Additional DCP (Noida) Ranvijay Singh said that Lakshmi was employed without any ID.
An FIR has been lodged against Sanjay and Lakshmi under IPC sections 381 (clerk or servant commits theft) and 328 (causing hurt by means of poison, etc, with intent to commit an offence).