Thieves strike at 2 Panchkula shops

The thefts at the merchandise showrooms — Fashion Secret and Koutons — were discovered today morning when the owners opened their shops and found the shops ransacked and cash missing.

In both the cases,the thieves had broken in through the false ceiling. “I came to my shop around 11 am and found the cash box empty and clothes strewn across the store. The burglars broke the grill of a window in the backyard and made way to the store by breaking the ceiling,” said Balbir Juneja,owner of Fashion Secret. He then called up Dikshant Chhabra,who runs Koutons showroom next door. “I received a call from Juneja and he asked me to rush to the shop and check if a theft has taken place at my store as well. They have taken away around Rs 80,000 and goods. We are still in the process of assessing the exact loss but it certainly runs into lakhs,” said Chhabra.

Of late,the market has become notorious for thefts. A few months ago,thefts had taken place at two shops. Shopkeepers rue that while there is a PCR van making rounds in the front side of the market,no one mans the backyard. Also according to byelaws laid down by the Haryana Urban Development Authority,shops cannot cover the entire backyard. “This provides thieves direct access to the shops,” said Juneja.

Sources claim that the thieves also made a failed attempt of breaking into the Allahabad Bank,which is adjacent to the Chhabra’s showroom. The bank authorities,however,denied and said the bank was thoroughly scanned by the security experts in the morning and “nothing was found amiss.”