Mumbai: Woman loses gold worth ₹4L after hiring cleaning service
What's the story
A 55-year-old Mumbai resident was robbed of gold worth ₹4 lakh after hiring a cleaning team through the NoBroker app. The incident took place on October 21, as she was preparing for Diwali. The resident, Lina Mhatre, found her gold ornaments missing from her cupboard soon after the cleaners left her Dahisar East home. She immediately reported the theft to the MHB police station, which led to the arrest of 27-year-old Arbaz Khan, one of the suspected culprits.
Ongoing probe
Investigation into suspect's background and app's verification process
According to Free Press Journal, Khan was identified through CCTV footage from Mhatre's building along with two other suspects—Santosh Omprakash Yadav and Sufiyan Nazeer Ahmad Soudar. Khan is now in police custody and being interrogated. The authorities are looking into his past to see if he has any previous convictions. They are also investigating if NoBroker did any background checks before hiring these workers. The app has since blocked IDs of these people, but questions remain about their verification process.
Industry scrutiny
Concerns over lack of background checks in service industry
The incident has raised concerns over lack of thorough background checks, in the cleaning and maintenance app industry. Despite these platforms often advertising trustworthiness and professionalism, many fail to provide solid assurances of background checks. With Diwali just days away, there's a significant rise in orders for home cleaning and other services through these apps, emphasizing the need for consumers to exercise caution when hiring services through digital platforms.