Women gangs target kids to loot jewellery

Hyderabad:Gangs of women thieves, who target schoolchildren, are on the prowl on the outskirts of the city. The women have lured lower primary girls during lunch break and stolen their gold ornaments at Jeedimetla, Kushaiguda, Vanasthalipuram and Alwal in the last two weeks.

 

The modus operandi of the gang is to lure children with chocolates and convince them that they are distant relatives, before taking them to a deserted places and stealing their gold. Later, they abandon the kids and flee. The gang targets government schools where security is weak.

 

Durga Bhavani, a Class III student of a government school in Vanasthalipuram, was playing near the school gate when a woman started talking to her. After luring the child with sweets, the woman started walking with her along the main road. “The woman convinced the kid that she was a relative and that her father had asked for her earrings. Believing the woman, Bhavani gave the earrings, after which the woman walked away leaving her on the street,” said a senior police officer from Vanasthalipuram.

 

Bhavani was later traced by the police a few kms away from her school. Five other kids in other parts of the city were robbed in a similar fashion. When police started a manhunt for the missing children, they were found a few kilometers away from the school without their gold ornaments.

 

Police suspects it to be the handiwork of a gang of women, who know if there is a security guard and  teachers notice when the children are picked up. “They enter the school compound as parents during lunch hour and pick up the kids. The innocent children do not realise they are being robbed,” said a police official. Cyberabad police have formed teams to find the gang.