Hyderabad: With Navaratri and Dasara festivities commencing and many families starting to leave for their hometowns for celebrations, locked houses in the city is what presents an opportunity for house burglars and automobile thieves to strike.
Usually, during the festive season, gangs from neighbouring States and districts also come over and stay put in secluded areas in the city and also on the city outskirts, waiting for an opportunity to target the locked houses.
“They conduct a recce of residential colonies, identify locked houses and burgle them in the absence of the residents. After accumulating cash, silver and gold, they return to their hometowns,” an official from Cyberabad Police said. Inter-state gangs mostly from Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are suspected to be active during the festival time, he said adding that automobile gangs too get active during the seasons and try to break the locks of parked vehicles and drive away.
Police say the foremost and simplest thing to be done is to inform the neighbours while leaving for native places. Thus alerted, the neighbours keep a watch on the house and in case of any suspicious activity can alert or check it. Another key step is to keep the local police informed about locking the house while leaving the city. If the local police station is in the loop, then officials ensure that patrol is increased in such colonies and a regular vigil is maintained to deter the burglars.
Stressing upon the importance of CCTV cameras, officials say surveillance cameras are always helpful if they’re installed on the premises of residence. “Using latest mobile apps, we can connect them to our mobile phones and keep a watch on them from anywhere. We also get cameras on rent from local stores,” said an official.
Senior officials from the Cyberabad Crime Branch said they regularly monitor for inputs regarding inter-state and local gangs coming and staying in the city to strike during the festive season.
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