GUWAHATI, Oct 24 � Residents of Government Press Road in Bamunimaidam area are living in fear and insecurity after a spate of burglaries in recent weeks.
The men in khakis have allegedly not succeeded in bringing any of the reported theft cases to its logical end. Residents have alleged that neither any substantial recovery of the stolen items was made by the investigators, nor had they been able to check the incidents of theft.
The Government Press Road and its adjoining areas which fall under Chandmari Police Station, in the span of a few months, have reported around a dozen cases, the nature of each of them being almost identical.
�They either break in through the ventilators or the windows. The strange aspect of most of the cases is that the miscreants strike in the absence of the owners, which goes to show that they are fed with pinpoint information about the whereabouts of the residents,� said Pradip Rajkhowa, a resident of Government Press Road, who witnessed two break-ins in his house in the last one month � the latest reported with the Chandmari PS on October 6.
�The thieves took off with valuables worth a sizeable amount along with cash during the break-ins,� Rajkhowa informed.
Police, had arrested a person in this connection, but the case was reportedly closed due to insufficient evidence.
Mrinal Gogoi, another resident of the area, is one of the recent victims, whose house was literarily ransacked in the span of few minutes when the family was away. �The police came and did not even bother to collect the finger-prints from the place of occurrence even though we insisted on it. The incident took place on September 30 and till date we are not aware whether any of the stolen goods has been recovered or the culprits nabbed,� a member of the victim�s family told this reporter.
A section of the residents is of the view that the menace is emanating from the workplace of a scrap dealer operating in the area. �The place has become a hub of unsocial activities. We have apprised the police about it but nothing has been done. Even children are being engaged by the dealer,� some aggrieved residents said.
Echoing similar concerns, Santanu Bhattacharya, said, �We are having sleepless nights. Even if you leave the house for a couple of minutes, you are not sure whether your belongings would remain intact. Such is the fear, and as no effective measure has been taken by the police, these unscrupulous elements are growing in confidence day by day.�
When contacted a police official said, �It is true that some cases of thefts have been reported from area. Recently we had picked up a few persons, which also included minors. The minors are engaged by the gang leader to break in through ventilators and windows. We are equally concerned about it.�
