In gold market, thieves target branded shoes
LUCKNOW: Temples and other worship places are known to be hot spots for shoe thieves. However, recently an unlikely spot was discovered -- jewellers’ shops in Chowk market.
In past one month, as many as 25 pairs of shoes of jewellers and customers were stolen by thieves who only target branded and expensive shoes.
LUCKNOW: Temples and other places of worship are known to be hot spots for shoe thieves. However, recently an unlikely spot was discovered -- jewellers’ shops in Chowk market .
In past one month, as many as 25 pairs of shoes of jewellers and customers were stolen by thieves who only target branded and expensive shoes.
“The traders ignored the initial 2 or 3 incidents of shoe theft, but the trend became frequent so we approached the police,” said Vinod Maheshwari, an office bearer of the Chowk Traders’ Association.
He said the traders even tried to trace the thieves by themselves but failed despite installing CCTV cameras and deploying security guards.
Maheshwari said a gang of 3-4 persons has been captured in the CCTV cams installed at different shops but their face is not visible. “The shoe thieves pose as customers, passers-by, rag-pickers etc and disappear after wearing one of the expensive pairs of shoes placed outside the shops,” he said.
Maheshwari said he too is a victim as his brand new pair of shoes costing around ₹3,500 was stolen from outside his shop two weeks ago.
He said as many as 15 pairs of shoes would have been stolen from outside the shop of one Uttam Agarwal and the shoe thieves were captured multiple times on the CCTV but every time they managed to escape. “Even on Sunday, one pair of shoes was stolen from outside Agarwal’s shop,” he added. Maheshwari said: “In one video footage, a well dressed youth, wearing no shoes, came to the shop’s entrance and escaped after wearing a pair of shoes kept there.”
In another CCTV footage, a youth is seen putting the shoes in a plastic bag and taking it along.
FRAUDSTERS ACTIVE
“Other than the shoe thieves’ menace, a gang of fraudsters is also active in and around the jewellers’ market in Chowk. As many as three incidents of duping visitors in the name of checking drive by fraudsters, posing as police personnel, have taken place in past two months,” Maheshwari said. He said the fraudsters took away gold weighing 200 grams and 250 grams from two small-time jewellers in the two incidents and ₹50,000 from one of the visitors but they did not register police complaint due to unknown reasons. He said the association has demanded that Chowk CO DP Tewari intensify patrolling and regular checking of suspicious people .