Safe is a fading word in Jamshedpur's lexicon.

Residents of Ashiana Sun City - an elite apartment complex off NH-33 - who so long believed they lived in a crime-unfamiliar utopia woke up to a rude shock on Wednesday to find one of the flats burgled and a bungled attempt on another.

Unidentified men decamped with unascertained amount of cash and valuables from flat E-009 - owned by senior BJP leader Dineshanand Goswami and rented to private company executive Anup Kumar Yadav, who is away in Calcutta - between Tuesday night and the small hours of Wednesday.

The daring nature of the break-in is evident from the facts that the residential complex in Mango has some half a dozen night guards and several closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras. A burglary in a fortified pocket like Sun City also insinuates insider role, which police are not ruling out.

Shushma Kumari, a sub-inspector who lives in the complex, informed local MGM police after Yadav's neighbour found the front door lock of the ground floor flat broken.

MGM thana OC B.K. Singh said a team that inspected the flat after receiving the complaint found a steel almirah had been forced open and rummaged through.

'The locker of the almirah was found empty. We suspect cash and ornaments have been stolen. However, only the owner (read Yadav), who is away in Calcutta for 10 days, can ascertain the exact amount. He needs to return and lodge a formal complaint,' the officer said.

Sources in the police said that the burglars had also made an attempt on first floor flat E-0015, but bizarrely left after breaking open the front door lock. OC Singh said security guards at Sun City were not above suspicion. 'This kind of crime needs an inside man. We are investigating the matter,' he added.

Most residents were too shocked to speak to the media. Many did not wish to come on quote or even be identified.

'There has never been a burglary here. We were under the impression that our society is the safest place to live, but we have been proven wrong. If a break-in can take place despite the presence of six guards and CCTV cameras, then no place in the city is perhaps safe,' said a resident who identified herself as Arpita Bose.

What security measures do you take at home?

Tell ttkhand@abpmail.com