Robbers strike Panchkula home

The robbers broke into the three-storey house of Mahendra Pratap Vij,retired deputy director of Haryana Tourism. They then brought everyone in the family,including five women,to the ground floor lobby and tied them up.

“It was around 1.30 am that I was woken up by a masked man. He brandished a knife and asked me to follow him quietly. When I came out,I saw that my father,uncles,aunts and cousins were all there. They then asked all of us to remove the jewellery that we were wearing,” said Gaurav Vij.

The robbers took gold chains,bangles,rings and earrings that the women were wearing; they also took away gold chains worn by the men. Two of the assailants then stood guard while the rest ransacked the house and took away cash,clothes and nine cellphones. “I was sleeping in my room when I saw six men surround me. One of them,who had a country-made gun,asked me to come out. They tied us up and told us not to look up. They also threw blankets on us,” said Mahendra.

His brother,Rakesh,who is a businessman,said that the robbers also took away brand new clothes like suits,shirts and footwear “after trying them out for proper fit”.

“They bundled everything in a bed-sheet and made a separate bag for the jewellery. We had purchased two gold jewellery sets for our daughter two days ago only,and they took it all,” said Rakesh.

After they were done,the six then went to a room,switched on the AC and helped themselves to tea,snacks and cold drinks. Before leaving,the robbers locked the main doors of the house and made their way to the adjacent residence.

“It was with much difficulty that we untied ourselves. On finding the doors locked,we broke the panes of a window and asked Abhay (12),the youngest in the family,to climb out and inform our immediate neighbours. They then broke the lock,after which we informed the police from a cousin’s cellphone,which the robbers couldn’t locate as he had kept it hidden under a pillow,” said Gaurav.

The family told the police that the robbers were heavily armed with pistols,rods,knives and swords,and that they were in their late 20s,wore rubber slippers,and conversed in Hindi.

Superintendent of Police Maneesh Choudhary visited the spot at 10 in the morning and assured the family that the robbers would be arrested shortly.

The police also showed the family,photographs of a few suspects; the latter identified two of them. The police have registered a case against unidentified persons and are investigating the matter.

Policing not tight,say locals
The robbery in Sector 10 has exposed chinks in police patrolling network in the city. The police top brass had claimed only two months ago that night patrolling has been intensified to control the crime graph. About six PCR vans and 50 personnel had been deployed to ensure security. Notwithstanding the claims,residents do not feel secure.

“We have failed to find any PCRs even during day. After 10,one will hardly find a patrol car at the roundabouts,” said Bharat Hiteshi,a resident of Sector 10. Former civic body president Ravinder Rawal echoed Hiteshi’s views: “There was a spate of thefts in residential areas recently. The police have also failed to check the antecedents of migrant labourers staying in colonies. At times,they are the ones involved in thefts.”