A “well-dressed” young boy is suspected to have stolen a handbag containing valuables and cash worth Rs 2.5 lakhs during the marriage ceremony of the children of two senior IAS officers here, the police said on Monday.

The theft occurred at the venue of the marriage of the son of secretary of information and broadcasting ministry, Uday Kumar Varma, and the daughter of Uttar Pradesh minor irrigation principal secretary, Susheel Kumar, was being solemnised here.
The incident was reported on February 2 while a case was registered at the Parliament Street Police station here eight days later.
The victim was Mr Varma’s wife who lost her handbag containing two gold “mangalsutras”, a necklace, a pair of ear rings and Rs 20,000 cash.
The complainant has pegged the loss in the theft at Rs 2.5 lakhs.
According to information and broadcasting secretary Uday Kumar Varma, who lodged the complaint with the police, the bag had been left unattended on a sofa close to the dais for one to two minutes during which it disappeared.
“On questioning, people who were in the vicinity at that time recalled seeing a small well-dressed boy wearing something like a suit and a shirt with polka dots carrying away the bag. Some reported that the boy was wearing the band uniform,” Mr Varma said in his complaint.
The senior official said that he suspected that one of the band boys or caterers or drummers could be behind the theft.
A case of theft (Section 380) has been registered by the police.