A group of men allegedly broke into a three-storey house situated on Paharpur Road in Garden Reach on Friday night, absconding with ₹70,000 in cash and jewellery after allegedly spraying a sleep-inducing agent on the lone elderly woman who was asleep in her ground-floor room.

According to police, the owner of the house, Ashoka Chattopadhyay, who is a widow, was away visiting her brother to celebrate Bhai Phonta, and her relative, Arati Chatterjee, was present at the house.

In the late hours of the night, the culprits entered the house by forcefully breaking the wooden entrance door, traversed down an aisle, and reportedly sprayed a substance on Arati, who was sleeping in her ground-floor room.

Later, the men climbed a flight of stairs, opened the door to the first floor, and broke open an almirah and a drawer to steal the valuables.

“It seemed the miscreants sprayed some chemical because I was in deep sleep, and after realising that something was happening upstairs, I couldn’t move. My legs felt heavy,” Arati, who is in her late 60s, said.

“I could barely move my hands. I somehow managed to press a bell that is meant to alarm my son. He came rushing down to enquire if I was keeping well,” she said.

The police said that by then, the miscreants had left the house.

After reconstructing the possible sequence of events, the police stated that the group entered Ashoka’s room on the first floor, having ensured Arati was deeply asleep.

“Following my husband’s advice, I had kept ₹70,000 stashed in a drawer, chor kuturi, in one of the rooms. The almirah, which is broken, is over 20 years old,” Ashoka said.

“I had kept a gold necklace, weighing 1.5 bhari (about 15 grams), inside a bag in the almirah along with earrings, nose rings, and bangles. Everything has been stolen. They also took away the golden crown of my Goddess,” she said.

The house stands on one side of Paharpur Road in Garden Reach, and the footpath in front is lined with vendors selling a variety of items, including fruits and vegetables.

Ritu Banerjee, Ashoka’s daughter, came to the house with her mother after receiving the news of the theft on Saturday morning. Later, the family filed a complaint with the Metiabruz police station.

Senior officers arrived at the house in the morning and sealed the first floor, which they identified as the crime scene.

“The wooden door at the main entrance appears to have been broken with the help of a crowbar. We are collecting footage from CCTVs that are installed around the house, on the main road, and its adjoining area,” a senior police officer said.