Former TV actress arrested for theft at Posta store on Oct 15

Kolkata: A woman who once worked as a television actress was arrested on Thursday for allegedly stealing a bag belonging to another woman who was shopping at a store in the Posta area on October 15.

The accused, identified as Rupa Dutta of Gariahat, was produced before the Bankshall Court on Friday and remanded to police custody till November 7. According to police, on the afternoon of October 15, Dipa Agarwal was shopping in a store on Adi Banshtala Lane when she noticed that her purse, which she had placed on a tabletop, had gone missing.

The purse contained a gold mangal sutra weighing about 20 grams, a gold neck chain with a Vaishno Devi locket (21 grams), two gold bracelets (13 grams and 9 grams), and Rs 4000 in cash.

Agarwal lodged a complaint at the Posta Police Station, following which police examined the store’s CCTV footage and spotted Dutta taking the purse. Further checks of nearby footage helped officers trace her exit route from the area. The police then circulated Dutta’s photo obtained from the footage among informants, while the Detective Department’s watch section maintained strict vigil around Burrabazar and Posta. On Thursday afternoon, a police team spotted Dutta near Nanda Ram Market on Brabourne Road, detained her, and took her to the police station for questioning.

Following interrogation, police recovered the stolen jewellery—the mangal sutra, neck chain with the Vaishno Devi locket and two bracelets—from her residence at 63B, Garcha Road in Gariahat.

Police sources said Dutta had acted in a few television serials several years ago but had since turned to theft.

She had earlier been arrested in 2022 for stealing a purse from a woman at the Kolkata International Book Fair in Salt Lake.