MUMBAI, Dec. 12 -- A 44-year-old house help from Kalyan has been arrested for allegedly stealing antique gold and diamond jewellery worth Rs.3.56 crore from a merchant's apartment in Marine Drive. The police said the theft took place between April and July, when the family was abroad. After seven months of investigation, the police have recovered about 80% of the stolen valuables. According to the Marine Drive police, an FIR was registered on July 27 after Harsh Dalal, 65, who lives at Bharatiya Bhawan in Marine Drive, filed a complaint. Deputy commissioner of police Pravin Kumar Munde said the jewellery, which was kept in a wardrobe inside the bathroom, was last seen on April 27, when the family left for Dubai. During their absence, only Dalal's 93-year-old mother and four house helps were at home. "We questioned the four househelps for several days and carried searches at their premises, but could not get any clues," said senior inspector Nilesh Bagul. Investigations later revealed that Sugandha Mandavkar, 47, the caretaker of Dalal's elderly mother, had gone out of town for a wedding on May 1. She had recommended a temporary substitute, Archana Sunil Salvi, 43. The complainant's mother agreed to the temporary arrangement, but other family members were unaware of it. "We found that Salvi was in contact with jewellers and had tried to sell 1,437 grams of gold," said a police officer. The police also noticed unexplained cash deposits in the accounts of her family members and found that she had quit her job shortly after the theft. "We have arrested her and recovered 1,249 grams of gold jewellery and diamond jewellery," a police officer added. The police said that Salvi has been booked under section 306 (theft by a clerk or servant of property in their master's possession) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita....