The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Burglaries soar in summer

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Sunday, Mar 23, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Burglaries soar in summer

Using door curtains so that locks are not seen, is safe says Marri Ramu

As the mercury inches upwards in summer, people initiate measures like wearing cotton clothes and changing their diet to protect their health. But not many know that their properties - gold jewellery, electronic goods or cash - have equally serious threat during summer from burglars.

For various reasons, burglaries show an upward trend in this part of the year. Statistics of past years and the recent spate of house-breakings and robbery attempts amply prove this. Whenever offences go up, police come out with their routine advisory saying house owners should properly lock their houses if they go out on vacations, intimate local police about the same, alert watchmen, so on and so forth. Recently, city police made two thieves - one of whom has to his credit more than 100 house breakings - explain how they commit offences.

Suggestions from these ‘experienced’ thieves on how to keep offenders at bay were quite logical and even police officers were impressed by them. According to them, most of the door locks used by people are not strong enough to prevent burglars. “In fact, locks on the doors confirm that inmates are away and lure us to commit offences,” the seasoned thieves explained.

Police say using door curtains so that locks are not noticed is a safe option while switching over to modern locks that can be affixed inside the door frames is another way to keep the thieves at bay. As the lock is not seen outside, the offender would not know if inmates are away.

Be it shutters of shops or doors of houses, ensure that there is no gap at the top and bottom along the frame. Most of the do wors and shutters have gaps in which iron rods can be inserted and broken easily. It is found that while front doors are locked, rear doors are usually not bolted properly, not locked and generally weak.

Ventilators, and vents created for installing air conditioners are convenient entry points for burglars. Though made of cement concrete and of one or two inches thickness, the ventilators can be broken with one strong blow. It is better to use ventilators made of wooden frame with iron grills or steel mesh.

Weak window grills is another easy entry point. In fact, some gangs of thieves sneak inside by removing window grills and in police parlance they are known as ‘window grill offenders’. In the name of aesthetic value or architectural design, of late steel grills are being affixed on the wooden panel of the windows with a few screws and bolts. These grills can be bent or removed easily by inserting a screw driver or a strong iron rod beneath the frame. Fixing the grills inside the wooden frame of the windows would make it difficult for offenders to cut or remove them.

In the name of ‘Vaastu’, windows are built immediately next to doors. “This makes us easier to insert hands through the windows and unbolt the doors,” the thieves explained. Another interesting observation was that many house owners lock the almirahs properly but leave the keys in the open or hid them at known places like beneath mattresses.

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