2 women caught stealing shampoo worth Rs3,807 from mall

Posing as customers, two women entered Vishal Mega Mart on SG Highway with an intention to steal. However, their real identity was revealed when they were stopped by the security guard. After doing thorough check, the female security guard found 18 large-sized shampoo bottles hidden inside their petticoats. The manager immediately called the Vastrapur police and handed the women over to them.

According to Vastrapur police, Anita Parmar, 25, and Hemlata Jadeja, 30, are residents of Chharanagar area in Mahajan Vas near Naroda Patiya. Both came to Vishal Mega Mart in an auto at 1:30pm on Thursday. When they reached the exit door of the mall after an hour, the security alarm started beeping. Such alarms are installed at most of the malls to prevent unbilled or stolen goods from being taken out. Alerted by the alarm, the guards stopped them.

What puzzled the guards was that the women were empty-handed. The guards then called the mall manager Kailash Saini, who asked female guards to check the women physically. When the guards frisked them, they were shocked to find 18 400-ml bottles of high-end shampoo brands, Head and Shoulders and Pantene ProV, worth Rs3,807 hidden inside special pockets of their petticoats. 

"These women stitched the pockets inside their petticoat by hand, and wore a sari to hide them from outside. One of the accused was carrying 10 bottles while another had hidden eight in her pocket. One bottle of Head and Shoulders is priced at Rs 224, while Pantene costs Rs 199," said Vikramsinh, a D staff constable at Vastrapur police station.

Investigation revealed that both the women had planned to sell the stolen goods at half the original rate to locals.