New Delhi:

The investigation into a theft at the AIIMS women doctors’ hostel has led Delhi cops to a 43-year-old woman who cannot resist the lure of gold and has committed several jewellery thefts earlier. The accused, who lives in Ghaziabad, has told police that she is a science graduate with a diploma in medical lab technology. She has said she loved ornaments, but never had enough to buy them. So she turned to stealing them.

On March 27, a woman doctor at AIIMS registered a police complaint for theft in her room. She told the cops that two gold chains, a gold ring, a pair of gold earrings, a gold bracelet, Rs 4,500 cash and 522 Malaysian ringgits — about 10,000 rupees — were missing from her room. Police registered an FIR and started an investigation.

As part of their probe, police scanned footage from about 100 CCTV cameras on the AIIMS hospital premises. They noticed a suspicious woman in the hostel corridors after most doctors had left for work. The woman wore a doctor’s coat and was seen trying to open several rooms. Another CCTV captured her arriving at and leaving AIIMS premises on a scooter. The cops tracked the scooter and managed to note down its registration number. This number was tracked to an address in Ghaziabad’s Brij Vihar and the woman was arrested.

During questioning, the accused told police that she loved wearing jewellery and this had led her down the crime path. The accused has said she has worked as a lab assistant at a private hospital. During her visits to AIIMS, she found that women doctors do not lock their rooms when they leave for work. She arranged a doctor’s coat so that security guards would not be alarmed and stole from the rooms.