Social Media Star Ends Up in Gold Theft Case

Visakhapatnam: Prominent social media star Soumya Shetty, also known as Soumya Killampally, has been arrested by the police for her alleged involvement in a gold theft case. The incident unfolded at flat 102 of Balaji Metro Residency in Dondaparthy area on Feb 23. Flat owner, Prasad Babu, filed a complaint with the police, alleging a theft of 150 tolas of gold ornaments from his residence.

The police launched a probe. The ‘clues’ team collected the fingerprints from the flat and analysed the CCTV footage. Suspicion fell on eleven individuals, leading to the detention and interrogation of three suspects.

Among those detained was Soumya Shetty, a prominent social media activist on platforms like Instagram. Soumya’s videos were popular. She had also ventured into acting in film Trip and was currently on the sets of the movie, Shivam.

It turned out that Soumya developed a close relationship with Maunika, a daughter of the flat's owner Janapala Prasad, in the last eight years. During her visits to Maunika's house, Soumya suspectedly took advantage of the family's trust and repeatedly sneaked into its bedroom through their bathroom.

On multiple occasions, Soumya suspectedly stole gold ornaments to the extent of 1kg gold. The theft came to light finally, on a day when Maunika's family members went for a wedding and, on their return, noticed the missing gold kept in the bedroom.

Suspicion fell on Soumya as she was one who used to enter the bedroom often and knew about the gold stocks there.

Police said Soumya confessed to her involvement in the theft and 74 grams of gold has been recovered. She pleaded her inability to return the rest of the stolen gold and allegedly held out a threat to the cops that she would end her life, police said.