A make-up enthusiast who would transform her appearance, get work as a housemaid in elite homes and decamp with the residents’ valuables, has landed in the police net. The woman often passed by Versova police investigators, who failed to identify her owing to her make-up and impeccable dressing sense.

The woman has been identified as Sheetal Arun Upadhyay, 32. She was held in Kurla West after a three-month search. She used to clean out people’s belongings while they slept after having lunch. An officer attached to Versova police station told mid-day that Shubhda Rajesh Gadgil, 53, had registered an FIR against Upadhyay in November last year after she noticed gold jewellery weighing around 23 gram is missing from her home. “The complainant’s mother is 80 years old. The incident took place in the afternoon when the elderly woman was asleep after lunch,” the officer said.