KOCHI: With the pandemic subsiding, many are going for journeys leaving their houses unattended and burglars are back at it, now targeting such locked houses.
In the past three weeks eight houses were burgled in the city centre and most of them were hit during the daytime when residents were away from their homes. Even as police managed to arrest the accused in seven out of the eight incidents, senior officers say that the public need to remain vigilant to keep such criminals at bay.
“A big mistake that people make is storing valuables like gold at home and then going away after locking the house. Ideally, residents should make use of locker facilities to store gold, especially if they are going away from the house often. Also, inform the local police station about travel plans or at least ask a trustworthy neighbour to keep an eye on the property,” said assistant commissioner (Ernakulam Central) Jayakumar Chandramohan.
The thefts were reported from houses in the heart of the city including Kadavanthra, Elamakkara, Palarivattom, Ernakulam North, Pallimukku and near St Albert’s college. Apart from the theft at St Albert’s college, the remaining burglaries have been solved.
Six houses were targeted by a north Indian gang who used to travel by flights and used to dress in formal wear to freely move around the city. The other gang was a group of four women who used to move around the city, posing as scrap collectors to identify houses without occupants. They used to even carry their children with them to avoid suspicion.
Both gangs stole gold, expensive watches, cash, and other valuables from the houses. Police said that they have received some clues from the CCTV footage collected from the vicinity of the house near St Albert’s College as well and the accused behind this incident will also be arrested soon.
“These are professional thieves who have unique modi operandi to commit the crime. We received information that some of them used to throw a stone into the property to see if anyone was home. Also, they have their own systems to identify which house would have valuables. Both the gangs kept away from houses with CCTV cameras, which again puts emphasis on the need for installing such mechanisms,” said an officer.
ACP Jayakumar said residents should form associations as a cooperation among neighbours is essential to keep such miscreants away. “We are ready to offer assistance in forming such groups, if anyone is willing to take up the matter. We can connect small groups of residents with umbrella bodies of resident associations to get themselves registered. If there is proper communication among each other in the neighbourhood, then strangers can be better spotted,” said Jayakumar.
