A burglar alarm on time curbs crime

The rising incidence of theft and burglary in posh bungalows and apartments of the city have brought to light a startling fact. Most of these houses, which cost a fortune to own, do not have in place a security system to deter burglars.

Both police and security system companies vouch for the fact that Amdavadis indeed are careless when it comes to the security of their homes. "People will spend a bomb in building a beautiful house but are not willing to shell out money to secure their homes," said Jatin Patel, owner of Shriji Security Systems.

Patel, who is in the security business since 1986 said, "A thief who enters your home will invariably target the safe box. There are systems available which ensure that your safe can't be broken into. Moreover, having an intruder alarm system will warn you even before the intruder reaches your safe. But people think these are unnecessary expenses."

Take the case of a recent theft incident in a bungalow in Bodakdev close to Rajpath Club. The thieves broke the lock of the house and escaped with Rs50,000 worth valuables. The house did not have any system in place to either deter the robbers or warn the owners of the theft.

A cop who has been associated with several such cases said, "People realise the value of such systems only after a theft has taken place." Hemal Patel of Elite Core Technologies, which recently introduced a product for home security, said the cultural aspect also comes into play here. "It is more of a cultural thing. We are not programmed to react until things happen to us. That is why people usually don't think of securing their homes unless something happens. Moreover, awareness regarding such products is quite low."

However, Abhash Shah, project manager, Cyber Info Electronics, said the trend is changing. "Many of our clients travel to different countries and come in contact with updated security measures in these countries. This has encouraged several of them to go in for such measures here," said Shah.