They get easy access posing as carpenters, electricians; burglaries up by 100 % in this suburb of Pune
Tuesday afternoon’s break-ins at Maxima Society in Wakad could serve as an eye-opener to all housing societies in the upcoming neighbourhoods of Pune.
A study of the house break-in statistics in Hinjewadi, mostly populated by software professionals who work in the adjacent Hinjewadi IT Park, has thrown up some interesting facts.
What is most shocking of all is that the incidents of such break-ins have gone up by a whopping 100 per cent. While last year the number was 45, this year, till November 30, it’s 91 already.
Also, the burglars have made a thorough study of the IT suburb and the work patterns of the professionals who live here. While in the rest of the city, night break-ins during holiday season is a common occurrence, in Hinjewadi, they have been breaking in houses during the day time too.
That explains how the number of day break-ins has gone up from 18 last year to 45 in 11 months this year. If we add the 16 from Tuesday, it is even higher than the night break-ins, 61 as against 46 night break-ins.
The police attribute this trend to the modus operandi of burglars who gain entry to a society on the pretext of carpentry or electrical work and then execute their plans. “Since the projects are incomplete, security is lax. Also the pretext that they are carpenters, electricians or plumbers, allows them to carry tools that can be used for burglary and there is no suspicion,” said inspector (crime) Parshuram Patil of Hinjewadi police station.
As the societies are yet to be formed in most of these buildings, they hardly have compound walls, CCTV cameras or vigilant security guards. Burglars seem to have noted this well and have been targeting these societies at will.
The fact the Hinjewadi police station hasn’t had a senior police inspector for last 11 months, has been a factor in the poor investigation rate of the break-ins.
Of the total 91 cases till November 30, only 11 have been detected. Last year, too, it was just 9 cases detected out of 45, but it was still better than the dismal 12 per cent this year.
Hinjewadi is nestled close to Pune-Bangalore national highway and that makes it easier for the thieves to escape. Thieves also thrive here as the neighborhood is a cusp area for both Pune city police and Pune rural police. Thus it often becomes a jurisdiction issue and gets entangled in red tape.
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