The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Hyderabad News : An open invitation to trouble

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Saturday, Jul 15, 2006

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

An open invitation to trouble

Many burglaries and thefts can be avoided if people show a little more care, writes MARRI RAMU

The almirahs are properly locked, but the keys are invariably kept on its top. The main doors are strong enough, but the rear doors are equally weak. Servants are employed, but their antecedents never verified.

These points may seem trivial, but a considerable number of thefts and burglaries committed in the city are due to this type of contributory negligence on the part of victims. A classic example is the burglary in the house of a police Inspector reported a few weeks ago in the police quarters at Saidabad.

While the Inspector was away on duty, his family members went to attend a function. The offender broke into the quarter only to find the almirah key left on a side table. In an equally interesting case, a jeweller kept the gold in a table drawer though he had a specially made locker in his shop at Khairatabad market. Thieves took away 30 tolas from this shop.

During questioning, many sleuths were surprised to hear burglars say that it seldom worried them if the almirah is locked. "Most of the time the keys are either on its top or beneath the mattress or pillows or in a few cases in the keyhole itself," they told detectives. In a considerable number of cases, rear doors are weak or left unlocked or made such that they can be easily unbolted.

Diversion gangs

Equally dangerous is the way people carry cash or jewellery from place to place. Most cash thefts near banks are committed by diverting attention of the customers. Despite warnings from bankers and police, people still keep cash or gold inside the side boxes of two-wheelers only inviting the thieves. Detectives advise that any transportation of gold or cash should be "from one point to another and there should not be any halt for whatever reason".

In most of the scooter dickey offences, it is observed that thieves took advantage of the time gap when vehicle riders stop for a smoke or tea or attend a phone call or any other reason. Equally dangerous is the open manner in which cash transactions are conducted inside banks, feel police officials. In the recent attempt by a trio to rob a businessman at Karur Vysya Bank in Begumbazar, police found that offenders sat in the bank in the guise of customers for more than 30 minutes and .

Noting how much cash a person is drawing, the thieves are passing on identification passed on details of the victims to their accomplices over mobile phones. In fact, Hyderabad police opposed conducting cash deposit and withdrawal openly and wrote letters to the managements to evolve a foolproof method.

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