99 burglaries in 7 months

 

The Coimbatore district police say that the burglars, mostly habitual offenders, were targeting elderly people living in independent bungalows on the city’s outskirts, namely Annur, Periyanaickenpalayam, Karumathampatti, Thondamuthur and Thudiyalur, and did so mostly at night.

 

On September 17, burglars who had entered the house of an elderly couple in Annur, had attacked Meenakshi Sundaram (66) and his wife Shyamala with a log, robbing them of two sovereigns of gold and other valuables in the house. Shyamala died later at CMCH while her husband is recovering in hospital.

 

On September 4, shopkeepers near Thudiyalur bus stand staged a protest, condemning the spate of burglaries in their locality. At least, 15 shops had been burgled over a month in Thudiyalur, barely a few metres from the Thudiyalur police station, they said.

 

The police say that they are too short-staffed to curb burglaries. In an effort to prevent any more from taking place, the city and rural police have appealed to the police headquarters to increase staff strength in police stations.

 

“We have been demanding more staff strength to be able to probe into burglaries and chain-snatching cases that are a common occurrence here,” said a senior police official. The Thudiyalur police station, which covers residential areas spanning 20 km from Vellakinar to Anaikatti, has only 17 police personnel. “How can 17 cops stop burglaries in thousands of houses spread across 20 km?” asks a police officer.

 

According to the Coimbatore district police, 28 cases of homes being burgled by daylight were reported, of which 16 cases have ben cracked. Of the 71 cases of night-time burglaries, 55 have been detected, claimed the police.

 

 

There has been a rash of burglaries on the city's outskirts, and superintendent of police M. Sudhakar has appealed to residents, living in independent houses, to install CCTV surveillance cameras.

 

Residents should instal the CCTV cameras in front of their houses and traders should fix alarm systems in commercial complexes and shops. When the residents go on outstation trips, they should not leave cash and valuables, like jewels, and electronic goods, like laptops, in the house, he suggested.

 

Residents going on long trips should inform the police stations. They should fill in the details in the locked door register being maintained in every police station. “This will enable the police to keep a vigil on locked houses by ensuring that motorcycle squads, patrol vehicles, constables on night beats and lurking beats, visit the house at frequent intervals,” the SP said.