Burglary on Rise in Rural Pondy Leaves Cops Clueless
PUDUCHERRY: A spate of burglaries have rocked Puducherry in the past three months with a majority of them in rural areas.
Several incidents have been reported in Thirukanur, Manadipet, Lingareddipalayam, Sompet, Vinayagapet, Bahour, Ossudu and Villianur in rural Puducherry.
It is surprising to note that burglaries have been reported in the same areas within a couple of days of one incident. Within days of burlary at the house of an employee of Lingareddipalayam Cooperative sugar mill in Mannadipet, the house of a farmer in Thirukanur was burgled. Infact this time the farmer and other inmates were asleep when the burglars gained entry into the house through the backdoor. Though the farmer woke up when the burglar snatched the chain of his wife, they managed to escape. One of them hit the farmer on his head and escaped. Within a couple of days, a textile and crafts shop belonging to Thanasu, secretary of Congress was burgled on Thirukanur main road. In Vinayagampet, there were three burglaries within a week. A few days earlier, a house was burgled at Bahour and the burglars decamped with the gold jewelery worth `3 to 4 lakh. Just two days ago an attempt was made to burgle a house at Vambupet and people caught hold of an innocent man. In fact in all cases of burglaries, the main target has been primarily gold jewelry.
There has also been several cases of chain snatching. The tourist spot at Ossudu lake, a bird sanctuary is another area is targeted by chain-snatchers. Due to chain-snatching, women are now tying Thali with thread instead of gold, said a resident of Vambupet.
What is of concern is the fact that in none of the cases, the criminals have not been apprehended. The police seems to have no clue on the criminals involved in the crime. People are living in apprehension and want the police to crack the crime, said S Muthurngam, vice president, Mannadipet Congress Committee . The police have been telling the complainants that they are investigating but no action has been taken so far, he said.
There are even suspicions of police-criminal nexus, particularly after an incident in the court premises more than a year ago. The accused in the burglary case have charged some police personnels of taking away the 300 sovereigns of gold jewelry. The then DIG I D Sukla also ordered an inquiry, but after his transfer nothing happened.
However, the SP, Rural, Deivasigamany said the crime has been controlled and there has been no incident in the last two weeks. The vigil has been intensified following the incidents and they are trying to work out case with TN police. Since burglaries have been reported in areas of Kandamangalam, Thindavanam and Vanur, which comes under TN and the modus operandi has been similar, it is suspected to be the handiwork of the same gang, he said.
Even in South zone area of Reddiarpalayam houses are being frequently burgled. Around 10 cases have been reported from that area. This include the houses of two doctors and one employee of Elections Department.
Most of the cases are yet to be cracked. Incidents have also been reported in other parts of the town and there has also been attempts to burgle houses.