Patna, Oct. 9: Slipping through narrow ventilators and windows is no child’s play any more. Perturbed by two successive attempts to loot banks in the state capital, police have launched a search for a teenaged gang of robbers who are using their frail physique to sneak into locked rooms.
The city police are at present on the lookout for a gang comprising members between 12 and 15 years who have been making successful attempts to sneak into banks at night after the operations come to a close.
According to the police, it’s difficult to locate the whereabouts of the gang members as they commit the crime in far-off localities, away from their residence.
On October 7, employees of the Patna Medical College Hospital (PMCH) branch of Punjab National Bank got a rude shock early in the morning when they discovered their office in a mess. Some thief or thieves had entered the bank slipping through at least two very narrow ventilators and had tried to break open the bank’s safe.
The lock of the iron gate separating the bank safe area from the employee section had been broken and the safe had been literally uprooted from the wall where it had been fixed.
In addition to this, CCTV cameras had been smartly turned to the other side and the monitor had been removed.
The police had also found a note, apparently written by the thief/ theives, challenging the cops to catch him/them if they can. The note read: “naam – Akeka, umar – 25, rang – saanwla, ghar – lohanipur, police ko challenge (name - Akela, age - 25 years, complexion – wheatish, house – Lohanipur)”.
Earlier, sources said there was a particular gang which was using children to commit the crime. With kids’ physique being thin and frail, it’s easy for them to slip though the narrow windows and ventilators in offices and homes and commit thefts.
“The police have been making investigations and suspect there is a gang consisting of children who are consistently ‘invading’ the banks. Though more details cannot be let out at this moment as the investigations are on, the involvement of some elders who are making them do the same cannot be ruled out. But then, all in all, a majority of the gang members are teenagers between the age group of 12 and 15, all slim, which helps them sneak in through very narrow gaps,” a police officer told The Telegraph today.
In yet another robbery attempt on September 24, robbers got into Rajvanshi Nagar branch of the State Bank of India through a very narrow window but could not break open the bank safe.
“In their frustration, the thieves fled with metal taps fitted in the washroom of the bank. There is a gang of teenagers which is involved in these robbery attempts. The police cannot be sure right now about they being controlled by some criminals. Tracking them is a difficult task as they give shape to crime in far-off locality,” said Patna city central superintendent of police Shivdeep Lande.
Sources, however, claimed a senior person was controlling the teenagers.
“In the robbery attempt at Punjab National Bank, the thief who got inside the office, first slipped though a narrow window, came to a gallery and entered another gallery though a narrow ventilator and then finally stepped into the manager’s cabin though yet another narrow ventilator. This shows that they had carefully toured the place and knew about the exact way to get inside. The gaps are too narrow and no adult can enter through them. But the planning looks solid which requires a lot of observation, something which an adult person acquires over the years ,” another police officer said.
