New Delhi: A bride-to-be and a man, whom she had secretly married earlier, were arrested on Wednesday after the woman allegedly stole money and jewellery that her parents had saved for her wedding, police said.

Deputy Commissioner of Police A.K. Singla said the 23-year-old woman and Anish, 34, from Seelampur in east Delhi had secretly married in 2015.

But the woman’s parents had planned her wedding with another man and made all the arrangements for the November 26 event.

When the woman’s parents were away on Tuesday night, she locked her younger sister in a room on the first floor of their house in Seelampur and called Anish and gave him the money and jewellery.

She later complained that two unknown persons barged into the house at night, tied her up and stole the money and jewellery.

Their plan wasn’t to run away with the stolen goods, but plotted that the woman would secretly carry it to the fiance’s house on the day of the wedding. She would then raise a hue and cry after discovering the stolen goods at her to-be in-laws’ house, which she would make a reason to end the marriage, police said.

“The accused thought that this will end her new marriage and after that she will get married to Anish,” Singla said.

Singla said Anish was married for the past eight years but did not have any children.

Police claimed to have recovered Rs 200,000 (Dh11,425) and about 300 grams of gold from Anish’s house.

Police said that during questioning, the woman told them that she did not talk to anyone on Tuesday over her phone.

But police checked her call records and found that she had spoken to Anish. The lead helped police solve the case in less than 24 hours after the crime.

Singla said it was a “high voltage drama” and the woman held on to her story throughout the night before finally confessing on Wednesday.