VIJAYAWADA: Cloth merchants and bullion traders are worried with shoplifting gangs becoming active once again in the city.
On Thursday afternoon, one such gang made its presence felt as five women tried to decamp with expensive sarees from a cloth store at the Vasthralatha Complex under One-Town police station limits. The whole act was recorded on CCTV camera installed at the shop.
The incident that occurred on Thursday is not a lone case to vindicate the presence of shoplifting gangs in the city. For the past three months, some gangs allegedly committed similar crimes, but most of them went unreported. The victim, owner of the saree store, lodged a complaint with One-Town police, submitting the CCTV footage. “We have received a complaint against the incident and identified the accused with the help of video clippings,” said the One-Town police.
The gang members pretend to be customers, enter shops and rob sarees and gold ornaments, they said. Explaining the modus operandi of these shoplifters, a senior police official from crimes department said women play a crucial role, especially while lifting sarees and jewellery. The gang members, who could be less than 10 members, are divided into two or three teams and enter selected shops as customers. They conduct a recce and collect details such as number of employees working at the establishment, security strength and the escape plan from the crime scene. “While one team keeps the sales personnel in the shop busy, the other team manages to rob sarees/jewellery by diverting attentions of other staff,” the Crimes department official said.
In the past, Vijayawada police busted three similar shoplifting gangs and recovered sarees and other valuables worth around Rs 10 lakh. “In most of the cases, the shopkeepers remain silent over such incidents. Instead, they should file a complaint,” the police officer said.