Burglars decamp with valuables worth ₹12L
nNEW DELHI : A group of men broke into the house of a Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) professor inside the university campus and decamped with cash and jewellery worth around ~12 lakh, police said on Saturday. This is the second burglary case reported from within the campus, which is guarded by over 250 private security guards round-theclock, in a fortnight.
Police suspect both the cases to be the handiwork of the same gang. Currently, the entry of outsiders in the campus is restricted because the university are closed.
The first incident, police said, had taken place at the government-allotted residence of an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer in the first week of May. That incident had come to light when a neighbour of the officer noticed the break-in and informed him.
Two FIRS have been registered at the Vasant Kunj (north) police station in both the incidents, but no breakthrough had been made in either. “We have registered a house breaking and burglary case under Sections 457 and 380 of IPC against unknown people.
Multiple teams are working to crack the cases,” said deputy commissioner of police (southwest) Devender Arya.
On the latest break-in, a senior police officer on the condition of anonymity, said that the crime came to their notice on Thursday night after Avijit Pathak, professor in The Centre for the Study of Social Systems (CSSS) of JNU, filed a complaint.
When contacted, Pathak said, “I have been living on the campus for the last 30 years and have never faced any such crime. I am surprised that despite the heavy deployment of security guards, the burglars could break into my house and flee with cash and other valuables.” In his complaint, he said that due to the ongoing lockdown, he had left his residence on March 20 to go stay with his daughter, who lives in nearby Munirka. On May 14, his neighbour informed him on phone that the rear door of his house was open.
A senior JNU administration official, said, “We issue circulars that if people leave the campus, they should inform the security office. This did not happen in both the cases. We are cooperating with the police in the investigation.”