A 43-year-old woman from Ghaziabad, who allegedly posed as a doctor to commit a theft at the AIIMS women doctors' hostel, has been arrested by Delhi Police. The investigation revealed that the accused, a science graduate with a diploma in medical lab technology, has a history of stealing gold jewellery — driven by a deep fascination for ornaments she could never afford.
The case came to light on March 27 when a woman doctor at AIIMS reported that valuables had gone missing from her hostel room. According to her complaint, "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." A First Information Report (FIR) was registered and an investigation was launched.
To identify the culprit, police scanned footage from approximately 100 CCTV cameras across the AIIMS premises. They spotted a suspicious woman wearing a doctor's coat in the hostel corridors during the hours when most residents had left for work. In the footage, she was seen attempting to open multiple rooms. Another camera recorded her entering and leaving the hospital premises on a scooter.
Using the scooter’s registration number, officers traced the vehicle to Brij Vihar in Ghaziabad. The woman was arrested shortly thereafter.
According to NDTV during the interrogation, the woman confessed to the crime. "She loved ornaments, but never had enough to buy them. So she turned to stealing them," a police officer quoted her as saying. She admitted to working as a lab assistant at a private hospital in the past. She also revealed how she observed that many women doctors at AIIMS did not lock their rooms while leaving for duty, and exploited this lapse in security.
To avoid suspicion, she donned a doctor's coat and roamed the hostel premises, blending in with staff and residents. "She arranged a doctor's coat so that security guards would not be alarmed and stole from the rooms," police said.