The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Window of opening for robbers on outskirts of city

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jun 16, 2005

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Window of opening for robbers on outskirts of city

By Marri Ramu

Offenders gaining easy entry via window grills, ventilators, weak locks, says Mahender Reddy

HYDERABAD: There is a common thread in the gruesome killing of a couple and their 18-month-old daughter at L.B. Nagar on Sunday and house-breaking of a Midhani employee in Vanasthalipuram a week earlier.

In both incidents, offenders sneaked inside easily by removing loosely-fitted window grills. They opened them by inserting a screwdriver in the tiny gap between the wooden window and iron grill frames.

In most new constructions, windows are designed in such a way that iron grills are fixed on wooden frames with screws in between. Irrespective of carpenters' expertise, there is a gap enough to insert a blade or the sharp edge of the screwdriver between the frames.

The modus operandi

Making use of these gaps, robbers put in sharp-edged tools and bend the frames of grills. Once the frame is bent a little, they wrench them off using crowbars. In a majority of cases, the grill comes off along with screws. And, there are gangs specialising in removing window grills, using small tools.

As house owners pay attention to main doors and overlook this aspect, it is making the job of offenders easier. This was not the case in old constructions. Earlier, masons used to install frames of the grills inside the concrete structure. "This makes it impossible to pull off the grill, and the only way to remove it is to dig the wall," says Sridhar, an architect.

The current pattern of fixing grills on wooden frames was introduced more from an aesthetic point of view than security angle, he observes. Though there are cases of robbers cutting off iron grills with hacksaw blades, implanting grills inside the walls minimises chances of removing them.

Fix iron grills: police

The police say it will be safer if iron grills are fixed facing the inner side of the wall. If this is done, intruders will be forced to break the windows first, which will alert inmates.

Improper welding

Another commonly observed lapse is improper welding of grill rods. CLUES team experts say carpenters should use as many as screws as possible to fix the grills.

The Cyberabad Police Commissioner, M. Mahender Reddy, says that apart from window grills, loosely-fixed backdoors, ventilators and weak locks are making the entry for robbers into residences easier.

Paying attention to such small details helps curb the possibility of offences to a large extent, Mr. Reddy observes.

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