Burglary at IB, PCS officers’ flats in Lucknow

LUCKNOW : Burglars targeted flats of two officers in separate apartments in Vibhuti Khand on Wednesday night and Thursday, taking the number of burglaries in the posh Gomtinagar since January 1 to 40.
Police said flats of Intelligence Bureau (IB) and Provincial Civil Services officers were targeted in the latest incidents. IB officer, Pawan Srivastava, lives in Shanti Vihar in Vibhuti Khand.He is presently posted in Assam. On March 23, his family went to Assam to meet Pawan.

On Thursday morning, their neighbour Amar Singh called up Srivastava and informed him of theft . Pawan immediately contacted police and his father-in-law who lives in the city. “The thieves made off with Rs 5,000-Rs 6,000 cash only, while the jewellery was intact,” said SHO Vibhuti Khand Rajiv Diwedi, adding that the officer’s father-in-law checked the belongings and informed about the loss.
In another case, miscreants struck at the house of Mandi Parishad officer Santosh Kumar Yadav in Mandi Parishad Colony of Vibhuti Khand. Yadav is posted in Lakhimpur Kheri. The miscreants decamped with cash and jewellery from the house on Wednesday night.
“On Wednesday morning, domestic help Mohit found the doors of the house open and household articles lying strewn,” said SHO Diwedi.
Yadav has not yet given the exact details of missing articles. “We are scanning CCTVs near both apartments,” he added. In almost three months, 40 burglaries have been reported in apartments of Vibhuti Khand, but none has been worked out so far. A senior telecom executive’s flat was burgled in Vipul Khand under Vibhuti Khand police station jurisdiction and valuables worth Rs 20 lakh were stolen. Similarly, 10 other flats in the same apartment were targeted in January. In February, flat of an executive engineer S K Rai was targeted in Vigyan Khand.
“Thefts in flats are becoming common in the area. Every third day a burglary is reported,” said Awadesh Pathak a retired PCS officer residing in the locality. He added that he thought that Vibhuti Khand was safe area, but now has become a prime target of burglars. No police patrolling is done in colonies, he alleged. CO Gomtinagar Avnishwar Srivastava said, “In more than 25 of such cases, no articles were found missing. We urge residents to install CCTVs and inform the nearest police station while going out for long.”