Bangaloreans open doors to thieves with their habits

With the advent of summer, and holiday season, the city is witnessing a spurt in the number of theft and burglary cases. Police attribute this not only to opportunist criminals but also to carelessness of citizens.

Senior police officials say it is common to see the number of such cases go up in summer. Joint commissioner of police (east), B Dayananda, said this mainly happens because people tend to leave windows—and sometimes even doors—open at night while sleeping, which makes committing theft easy. He pointed out that people living on the city’s outskirts and isolated areas in particular leave the doors and windows of their houses open at night.

Also, the joint commissioner said, many people are in the habit of keeping their valuables near windows before retiring to bed. All that thieves need to do is slip their arm through the open window, grab the item and flee.

A police inspector working with west division said that during summer, the number of theft and burglary cases increases by up to 30% when compared with other seasons. Dayananda said it is not only houses with open windows and doors that attract the attention of thieves, but also locked houses, as summer is the time when most people go on long vacations. He said burglars, not wanting to miss the opportunity, keep an eye on such houses and target them at the ‘right’ moment.

Dayananda said that at the beginning of the season itself, DCPs of all divisions were told to hold meetings with people and caution them. He noted that people’s response has been poor.

People have been told to inform their local police station if they are going out of town for a long duration and the house is going to be locked, but most of the people do not do that. He said it is only after a theft or burglary that people come to the police and regret not heeding their advice.

While preventing such incidents depends on people, it is not easy for the police to trace the culprits. Dayananda said the police had not been able to arrest any thief who stole valuables from window of a house as there is no evidence or lead in such cases.

To illustrate the daring nature of thieves and burglars, the joint commissioner pointed out that it is not only at isolated areas and outskirts that these culprits strike; they target even apartments as they are aware that residents of the apartment would not be able to remember the face of all the ‘visitors’.

He reiterated that many thefts take place because of carelessness of people.