During Diwali celebrations this year,spread over five days from November 3-7,the city police were kept busy with at least 11 incidences of chain snatching,12 house break-in cases and two robberies having been reported in which gold worth around Rs 35 lakh has been stolen. In twelve cases of house break ins,around five lakh in cash,gold and other ornaments worth 30 lakh,electronic gadgets worth two lakh were stolen. In two major cases,one in Nigdi and another in Pimpri,gold ornaments worth seven and nine lakh were looted. In both cases,the owners of the house were away. Anant Shinde,additional commissioner of police (crime) said,We had taken all the possible precautionary measures like deploying of police personnel in sensitive areas,stepping up of patrolling during evenings and so on . Our focus though,was more on markets and areas around it. The majority of the incidences that have taken place are other than these areas. Though in two cases,the suspects have been identified,police are yet to get any clue in the remaining. In 11 chain-snatching incidents,ornaments worth Rs 4.8 lakh were stolen. In one case,Pradeep Deshpande,42,was lootes by six-seven men in Bibwewadi. The robbers fled with Rs 20,000. Sanjay Jadhav,deputy commissioner of police (zone IV) said,It is advised that when people go out of station,they should keep their valuables and cash in bank lockers. Their neighbours must also be made aware of their absence. A senior officer with crime branch said that moholla committees or housing society committees should me made aware if there are any aged persons staying alone at home when rest of the family is out. He added that in such persons are more vulnerable to robberies with serious injuries and as far as possible they should given someone to accompany them specially during night-time.
