Thieves loot five homes in police colony, flee

Gang broke into police quarters in Santacruz, pillaged five households, decamped with booty without being noticed by anyone, all within an hour; resident cops refused to comment as it was "humiliating"

In a show of utter impudence, a gang of thieves broke into the apartments of five police officers and escaped with the booty last morning when it was still dark, undetected. The unidentified thugs broke into the police officers' quarters near Podar School in Santacruz West in the wee hours of Tuesday. They robbed five apartments, all home to senior police officials, and decamped with the pillage in less than an hour, initial investigations revealed. Incidentally, at the time of going to press, none of the cops or their family knew their houses were broken into. They are all out of town on leave. The larceny came to light in the morning when one of the policemen, a resident of the three-storey building who the robbers had spared, returned from his night duty around 5 am yesterday and found the door to his neighbour's apartment ajar.

Scene of the crime: The building the gang broke into at Santacruz
and stole items from five households, all belonging to police officials.
Pic/Datta umbhar

Realising there had been more than one break-ins, the assistant police inspector, Jitendra Nandkumar Kamble, who is attached to Vakola police station called up Santacruz police station. "We have registered a case under Sections 457 and 380 of the Indian Penal Code," said Senior Police Inspector Madhukar Chaudhari of Santacruz police station. Cops conducted an inquiry and found that the gang broke into two ground-floor apartments, one on the second floor and two other rooms on the third floor. The building did not have a night watchman. Said a resident of the building requesting anonymity, "It appears the policemen were confident that robbers will not target police residential quarters. That is why they did not think of employing a night watchman." Officials said that the victims of the theft were not aware of the thievery. They are all out of town. "We are investigating the matter. At this point, we cannot say what all has been stolen, as the robbed officers are on leave," said Chaudhari.u00a0

'It's a shame'u00a0
While the victims of the theft are all out of town on leave, their neighbours ufffd other policemen and their family membersu00a0-- say they did not hear a single sound. Nor do they wish to talk about the theft, which is mortifying, they said. A police officer's wife said that she did not wish to talk about the matter as it was very humiliating. Others declined to give their names or rank. Another officer's wife, requesting anonymity, said hesitantly, "We all were fast asleep. We did not hear anything." She added, "It is very humiliating that this should have happened right where policemen live." "The thieves might have done a recce before breaking in as the crime seems to be well-planned. More details will emerge during the investigation," Chaudhari said.

Thefts on rise
The series of thefts have raised questions about the reason behind the spurt of larceny cases across the city, particularly in SoBo. More than 701 robberies were reported in the first four months this year. The corresponding number was 660 for the same period last year, pointing to a decline in the law and order situation in the city, officials said.