Jamshedpur : Of late there have been a spurt in house break-ins and robbery cases in the city. Though claiming that such incidents, in a city with a population of over 13 lakh was inevitable, the police admit to the involvement of some ‘active’ gangs and have intensified steps and suggested several measures to check the rising crime graph.
A gang of robbers decamped cash and gold ornaments worth over Rs 50,000 at Shiv Ghat locality under Jugsalai police station area in the wee hours of Monday.
The robbers who were five in numbers assaulted the wife of the house-owner Rajiv Sinha while seeking the key of a almirah. In this connection, the police have registered a case of dacoity against the five persons on the basis of an FIR lodged by Rashmi Sinha, wife of Rajiv Sinha.
As she was asleep, one of the criminals had slapped on her face, causing injury in the left eye. The moment she woke up, the criminals asked her to give the key and also say where was the cash kept.In the meantime, the robbers had fled the spot from the backside.
According to data collected from local police stations over 40 cases of robbery have been reported this year. Two cases from Mango, 7 from Olidih, 3 from Azadnagar, 9 from Telco, 3 from Sidhgora, 3 from Jugsalai and 2 from Golmuri have been registered in these two months.
Sources revealed that the thieves, who were more than one had entered into the house through the ventilator and inspected the rooms before committing the theft.
“Citizens need to observe certain simple rules to check house break-in cases. For example the keys of cupboard/almirah should not be kept in the same room, lights should not be put off while going out, requests even for a glass of water from unfamiliar people should be turned down,� said a former DSP.
It has often been observed that burglars keep a watch to fix their ‘target’ in a housing colony or society before committing crimes. People whose movements were found to be suspicious should be placed under watch.
Among other measures, said the official , records of robbers and burglars were being studied and a list of habitual offenders being narrowed down.
Besides increasing population, police attribute the steep increase in the incidence of robberies to chain snatching cases. The steady rise in the price of gold led to a corresponding increase in chain snatching incidents.
�Earlier chain snatchings were recorded as theft in the First Information Report (FIR). In the last two years, we asked the police to register it as robbery case,� a senior police official said.
Another important factor in the escalated numbers was that firm instructions were given to all police stations not to resort to burking of cases.
�The detection of cases may be low but that did not stop us from registering every complaint of robbery irrespective of the quantum of loss suffered by the victim,� the official said Officer-in-charge, Jugsalai police station Ashok Giri confirmed about the robbery at Jugsalai Shiv Ghat area in the night.
� We are investigating the incident. We have registered a case in connection to the robbery. The criminals will be nabbed soon,” claimed Giri.