Residents of Anil Bhavan in Parel woke up to a shocker on Sunday morning upon discovering that unidentified persons had targeted their cars, and had stolen valuables
Residents of Anil Bhavan in Parel woke up to a shocker on Sunday morning upon discovering that unidentified persons had targeted their cars. They claimed that their vehicles were damaged with the sole purpose of stealing valuables.
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Surprisingly, one of the three vehicles the thieves struck was an ambulance that had ferried a patient to the Tata Hospital on Saturday. Jateen Sanjay Desai, owner of the Wagon R whose window was smashed by the thieves, said, “Though I had covered the car, someone tried to break in. Fortunately, I had not kept any valuables inside. At present, the car is being repaired.”
After the attempted thievery came to light, Desai went to lodge a complaint at beat chowky no 2 under Bhoiwada police station around 6.30 am. But, he discovered that there was only a single official registering complaints at the chowky. Desai waited for 30 minutes before he returned home disappointed.
Unlucky
Unlike Desai, Rachana Agarwal bore the brunt of the burglary. She lost a laptop and silk saris worth Rs 57,000 from her Innova car. “The car was parked right outside the building. At 11 am, the cleaner informed me that one of its windows was shattered. I rushed to check and discovered that the laptop and saris were missing.” She, too, rushed to the chowky, but the officials there asked Agarwal to lodge her complaint at the Bhoiwada police station.
Targeted time and again, the residents claimed that they have been facing this problem for the last 14 years. Desai said, “I had bought a new bike four years ago with my first salary. It was stolen from the parking site. Despite registering a complaint at the Bhoiwada police station, nothing has happened till date. They have neither caught the thief, nor have they managed to recover the motorcycle.”
Residents are of the opinion that the police should beef up security in the area by patrolling it frequently. Some of the wrongdoings the residents reported were chain snatchings, a growing number of junkies, and car thieves. Seven months ago, the locals had conducted a signature campaign requesting the police to install CCTV cameras and speed breakers in the lane. However, they accused officials from Bhoiwada police station of paying no heed to their requests.
Cop speak
PI Sambhaji Raje from Bhoiwada police station said, “We will start our investigation, as there has been a case of burglary. Firstly, we’ll increase patrolling in the area. We will then rein in the miscreants to put an end to the illegal activities happening in the lane.”