Armed with shawls, ‘dupatta’, gang of five women burglars break into Vadodara shops
More than Rs 25,000 in cash was reportedly stolen during the incident. Police were now examining if the gang may be linked to similar thefts reported in other parts of the city.
Around 4 am on May 21, the women targeted a couple of shops, including a pharmacy, on Tulsidham crossroads in the Manjalpur area. While it may sound like a plot from a Gujarati movie on women dacoits, but a gang of five women dressed in traditional clothes executed a choreographed theft at shops in Vadodara’s Manjalpur area in the early hours of May 21, police said on Saturday.
Caught on CCTV cameras, the women can be seen, in the footage, using shawls and human shields to cover their act as they break into shuttered stores in the dark. While police have registered a case under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections 331(4) (housebreaking at night with intent to commit an offence, especially theft) and 305(a) (theft inside a building, dwelling, shop), they have yet to identify the suspects when this report was filed on Saturday.
Around 4 am on May 21, the women targeted a couple of shops, including a pharmacy, on Tulsidham crossroads in the Manjalpur area. In one CCTV grab, three women in traditional chaniya (skirt), their faces covered by a dupatta, are seen walking calmly toward the entrance of a closed shop. Another frame shows one woman attempting to block the view of the store’s entrance with a shawl as another woman crouches to open the shutter, seemingly. A third CCTV image from inside the shop shows a woman sliding from under the partially open shutter and walking to the counter area.
More than Rs 25,000 in cash was reportedly stolen during the incident. Police were now examining if the gang may be linked to similar thefts reported in other parts of the city.
The thefts come amid growing concern over rising burglary cases in Vadodara. Police inspector DG Patel said, “We have begun a search for the women on the basis of CCTV footage… There are five women we are looking for. They have been booked for trespassing, and teams have been formed to get a breakthrough in the case.”
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