Thieves strike as cops doze

As if to mock police of the Vivek Nagar area, a gang of thieves broke into six houses on Wednesday night and decamped with valuables

Thieves strike as cops doze

As if to mock police of the Vivek Nagar area, a gang of thieves broke into six houses on Wednesday night and decamped with valuables.

The irony is that the police station is barely 300 metres away from where the robberies occurred.

Residents were in for a rude shock yesterday when realised that six houses had been broken into in a single night without anyone noticing. The thieves are believed to have struck when the house owners were away.

Ironically, when this reporter questioned the cops from the Vivek Nagar police station, the men in uniform claimed that they were dishing out the latest information. They also blamed the night beat cops for the lapse.

"We are shocked and did not hear about the incident until you told us. Our team has now conducted preliminary investigations.

The owners have been informed and they will have to give us details of their missing valuables. We have recovered a pocket knife from near door of one of the house targeted," said Niyaz Ahmed, SI, Vivek Nagar police station.

With the festive season just around the corner, many families from the area have gone to their respective
hometowns. "We returned home tired and did not hear a sound when the thieves struck," said Babu Raj, a resident of the area.

Meanwhile, other residents expressed disappointment over the alertness of the cops during night beats. "It is obvious that the gang had a well organised plan and knew what was happening in the area.

It is disappointing that the cops were not alert enough to nab them red-handed," said Suguna Shree, another resident.

The cops at the jurisdictional station have assured residents that they would take the night beat police personnel to task for this lapse.