Bhubaneswar, May 26: City police are worried at the tendency of teenagers getting involved in alleged cases of thefts and burglaries. In the last two days, the police have arrested two such groups.

The Infocity police on Wednesday arrested four persons, including three minors, of the age group of 13 and 15 for committing burglary at a house in the Infocity area on May 18. They were arrested from Banphool slum at Laxmi Sagar.

While the main accused, an adult identified as Bapi Nayak, was sent to jail after his bail plea was rejected by a court, the three minors were sent to the juvenile jail in Berhampur.

The police said that these boys were the part of a gang of burglars. They were roaming in different areas as rag pickers and were keeping track of houses. They were providing information to the seniors of their group and were involved in the preparation and planning of the crime.

They had stolen cash worth Rs 20,000 from a house by breaking the window in daylight when the occupants were not at home.

In another incident on Tuesday, the Shahid Nagar police had detained four children from Laxminarayan slum. They were later freed after their mothers were arrested for forcing them to steal wedding gifts from the reception of a police officer’s son. The police said they had decamped with cash worth more than Rs 30,000. These children were roaming around the reception party. They made holes in the tent with the help of a blade and took away some gift packets. The police later recovered cash worth 8,000 from them.

There are several such incidents in which the police have arrested minors for committing such offences in the capital. “In most of the cases, the minors belong to the slums in the city. They are either lured or forced by their senior family members or peers in their areas to commit offences,” said a police officer, adding that this is an alarming trend, which has surfaced here.

The police said they have arrested some of these minors earlier also. For instance, earlier Shahid Nagar and Khandagiri police had nabbed these minors who have been arrested by Infocity police on Wednesday in burglary cases.

Sociologists, however, believe that the growing consumerism has its impact on these children too. “Though they are not directly affected, circumstances force them to commit offences. Children, particularly in the slums, lack proper parental care and basic education. It becomes easy for the anti-socials to use them as baits in the crimes,” said sociologist D.N. Jena.

Yet another reason for the rise in crime among juveniles was the growing gap between the poor and rich in the city. “Children in slums entering the crime world are a phenomenon in metros such as Mumbai and Delhi. Later, they try and control the crime world there. The situation here is going to be similar. Before their futures are spoilt, the authorities must look this. They should be provided with education, which will divert them from committing crimes,” said Jena.