House break-ins increase during festival

After five shops were robbed in a day, police increase patrolling and tell residents to take safety measures

VASHI: Diwali comes as another opportunity for burglars in the city. In the past few days, several cases of house break-ins have been reported, with shops too being targeted. The police have beefed up security and have appealed to residents to be cautious.

While some purchase gold jewellery, others bring home their jewellery from bank lockers for wearing during the festivals. The business is also good in shops.

On Monday, five shops in Big Splash building located in Sector 17, Vashi, were broken into by unidentified persons. However, they could not take away much, said Vashi police.

In Gothivli, a house breakin was reported in Guru Mauli building and property worth Rs93,000 was stolen from the house.

“The building located in gaothan area does not have a security wall and the security guard was negligent in his duty. This helped the culprits,” said an officer from Rabale police station.

He said, “The culprits took away the gold jewellery along with the purchase bills. These, they probably believe, will help them sell the loot at a jewellery shop.”

In another case, the police learnt that a mobile phone had been stolen from a house in the building two days earlier.

“The locks on the doors of the houses in the building are not very strong and culprits broke them easily to gain access to the flats,” said the officer.

“While we have increased night patrolling and nakabandis in the city, we also appeal to the residents to take adequate safety measures during the festival,” said Arun Walture, assistant commissioner of police.

Recently, the police busted a car thief gang, arrested four people and seized three vehicles from them. The arrested men The accused have confessed to stealing vehicles in Navi Mumbai, Thane, Mumbai, Pune and other cities. The police said they were yet to arrest the leader of their gang.

The police said several housing societies in Navi Mumbai are lagging behind in security systems and that is the reason why more and more people are falling prey to burglars.

They have been warning residents to keep security systems in place. People spend lakhs of rupees on their houses and vehicles but when it comes to securing them, they do not seem to have the budget. “Fact is that it hardly costs much to get such security,” the police had said.

“The burglars are professional. They get into the houses, break locks of cupboards in no time and escape. The entire operation takes them less than 10 minutes. Therefore, we appeal to the city residents to cooperate with the police in reducing crimes,” the police had said.

While we have increased night patrolling and nakabandis in the city, we also appeal to the residents to take adequate safety measures, especially during the festivals

ARUN WALTURE, assistant commissioner of police