When it was built in the early 90s, it promised safe, secure and high-quality living. But of late, the sub-city of Dwarka has earned the dubious distinction of being a safe haven for criminals. On Thursday, six houses were burgled by unidentified men in sector 18, Dwarka. The incident was reported from Atulya Apartments in sector 18 B and the robbers used a similar modus operandi for all the break-ins.
Police said goods and valuables worth Rs 20 lakh were stolen from the houses. The occupants of the houses were away when the burglaries took place.House number 411, owned by Kamlesh Verma, was the first house to be burgled. Verma, police said, runs a coaching institute, his wife works in a private company. ‘‘On Thursday, the couple was not at home. When Verma came back to his house in the evening, he found the lock on his front door broken,” said a police officer.
Verma told police that gold and silver jewellery worth Rs 8 lakhs and Rs 1 lakh cash had been stolen. Police said five more flats in the same locality were burgled, the robbers breaking open the locks of the houses and ransacking the houses. Another victim, Chetan Saini, an engineer, told police that cash and valuables worth several lakhs has been stolen from his house.
‘‘He also came to know about the theft on Thursday night,” added a police officer. Police said they have registered cases of burglary and were questioning security guards in the area. The role of an insider cannot be ruled out. Additional DCP (south west) Parmaditya said, ‘‘We have registered cases and are investigating the matter. There have been breakins in only three houses. The other three houses were vacant.”
Police recently held a meeting with residents of the area, in which they appealed to house owners to install anti-theft devices and CCTVs at the colony gates. ‘‘Most of the apartments have no access control and anyone can walk in and out of the colony. In most of the cases, there has been connivance with the security guards,” said a police officer.
‘‘Incidents of burglaries, chain snatchings and car jackings in the sub-city are on the rise. The area has become one of the most crime-infested in Delhi,” said Shishir Narain, who lives in Dwarka. The break-ins come days after similar burglaries were reported from Humsub Apartment Complex in Sector 4. A few days ago, the office of the All India Football Federation too was robbed, and the car of a Delhi High Court judge’s brother-in-law was snatched at gunpoint from the same area.
