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One of the ransacked rooms at quarter 148 in Sindri on Tuesday. Picture by Gautam Dey
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Housebreakers once again mocked lax policing in Sindri, cleaning out cash and jewellery from three government quarters on Monday night within a month of similar serial burglaries.
Though the exact amount of booty could not be ascertained because the owners of the targeted quarters in SK4 locality of Saharpura are not in town, sources said the losses must have run up to several lakhs of rupees if not more.
According to neighbours and relatives, Q. No. 148 of R.P. Singh, currently a senior official of a fertiliser company in Barauni, Q. No. 133 of retired FCI-Sindri employee Vinay Shankar Prasad and Q. No. 142 of Harimangal Singh, also a retired fertiliser company employee, were burgled between midnight and 5am.
Assistant sub-inspector (ASI) of Sindri police station Jadu Mahto, who inspected the spot, said the modus operandi was similar to that of July 3, when four houses in the same SK4 neighbourhood were burgled.
The unidentified gang broke open front door locks to enter every home and cleaned out only cash and jewellery, leaving behind other valuable items.
Basukinath Singh, brother-in-law of R.P. Singh, confirmed that the LCD television set, mobile phones and cameras had not been touched. “My sister, her husband, three of their four sons and their wives are visiting Hyderabad. Their eldest son Amit, a software engineer with Microsoft, is on a trip to the US and the entire family decided to give company to his wife,” Basukinath, a share trader in Sindri, said.
He added that the burglars broke open the lock of the front gate and three rooms to empty more than half a dozen jewellery boxes, which were found strewn around the house. “I have informed them. They will arrive in two-three days,” he said.
On July 3, Q. No. 63 of Ramchandra Singh, a relative of the Singhs, was targeted in the same way. “Burglars had cleaned out Rs 10,000. The exact amount of cash and jewellery stolen this time can be ascertained only after my sister arrives from Hyderabad,” Basukinath said.
Ankit Kumar Srivastava, nephew of Vinay Shankar Prasad, said Rs 25,000 in cash and jewellery worth Rs 2 lakh might have been burgled. “Three locks were broken and two almirahs emptied,” he said, adding that his uncle was in Delhi visiting his cousin who works there.
Madan Prasad, neighbour of Harimangal Singh, said the house owner was undergoing treatment in Vellore for four months and his quarters had been lying closed since.
Sindri officer in charge Manoj Kumar Singh said preliminary probe suggested role of a gang from outside the district, but with local links.
Dhanbad SP Ravi Kant Dhan added: “We are conducting raids across Dhanbad and have also intimated our counterparts in other districts.”
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