Television actress Rupa Dutta, who had earlier hit headlines after being arrested for pickpocketing at the Kolkata Book Fair in 2022, has once again landed in police custody.
The Kolkata Police’s detective department arrested her late on Thursday night in connection with a theft that took place in the Posta area earlier this month. According to police sources, on 15 October, a woman lodged a complaint at Posta police station alleging that her handbag was stolen while she was shopping at Adi Bashtala Lane. The complainant said her bag contained gold ornaments, including a 20-gram mangalsutra, a 21-gram gold chain, two gold bangles and Rs 4,000 in cash. Following the complaint, investigators examined CCTV footage from the area, which reportedly showed Rupa Dutta’s movements around the time of the incident.
After tracking her location, the police questioned her and subsequently arrested her from near Nandaram Market in the Burrabazar area. During a search of her residence, officers allegedly recovered around 62.95 grams of gold jewellery, believed to be stolen property. Police said Dutta was taken into custody under charges of theft and receiving stolen property. She is expected to be produced before a city court later today.
Rupa Dutta had previously courted controversy in 2022 when she was caught at the Kolkata Book Fair throwing a wallet into a dustbin. A police officer on duty noticed her suspicious act and intercepted her. Upon searching her handbag, police recovered several wallets and about Rs 75,000 in cash. She was arrested then on charges of pickpocketing and possession of stolen property. Known for her roles in Hindi television serials such as Jai Maa Vaishnodevi, Dutta has also acted in a few Bengali films.
In 2020, she drew national attention after accusing Bollywood filmmaker Anurag Kashyap of sending her “obscene messages” on social media. Later investigations revealed that the messages were sent by a person impersonating the filmmaker.
Police are now investigating whether Dutta was involved in other similar thefts in recent months. Officers said further questioning and forensic examination of the recovered jewellery will help determine the scale of her alleged activities.