India

Theft at sports minister’s official residence in Bhopal

The alleged burglary occurred on the intervening night of April 2-3, when the minister was present at the bungalow.

Anuraag Singh

BHOPAL: Exposing the state of security in the high-security 74 Bungalows area of Madhya Pradesh’s capital Bhopal, unidentified persons reportedly burgled trophies and mementos from the official residence of the state’s cooperatives, sports and youth welfare minister Vishwas Sarang.

The alleged burglary occurred on the intervening night of April 2-3, when the minister was present at the bungalow. The theft from the storeroom came to light when the on-duty security personnel spotted the locks of the room broken on the morning of April 3.

Importantly, the room where the minister’s trophies, mementos, shields and shawls were kept was not under CCTV surveillance, making it easy for the accused to break the room’s lock and burgle the property.

The matter was reported on April 6 to the TT Nagar Police Station by the minister’s personal assistant (PA) Pravin Saxena. While confirming the incident, the TT Nagar police station in charge, Gaurav Singh Dohar, said that the footage retrieved from the CCTV cameras in the vicinity of the minister’s residence is being examined to get clinching clues.

This is the fifth theft/attempted theft reported in recent years at the official bungalows of present or former ministers in Bhopal.

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