E-gadget burglars strike south Kolkata homes

KOLKATA: The resumption of local train services has brought back a major challenge for cops with several gangs from districts like South 24 Parganas, Howrah and Hooghly striking the city. Most of these gangs share a common modus operandi — they target some specific houses and manage to steal expensive electronic gadgets and other households objects.A gang of teenagers in the Ballygunge-Bhowanipore belt has been snatching various items at random and when caught, they show Aadhaar cards as age proofs to ensure that they are sent to shelter homes for being minors. They get released in a week or two and rejoin the gang. Five thefts have been reported from the areas like Ballygunge, Garfa and Survey Park, where robbers decamped with electronic gadgets since Diwali.
Those arrested in the past few days told the police that the resumption of train services had made it easier for them to commute to the city and that they used to get off at different stations daily and choose the areas for robbery.
“The district gangs are not staying in Kolkata, rather they are travelling here as per their needs. Several women and children are also part of these gangs,” said a police officer. Cops warn senior citizens to be careful as there are some gangs that make people emotional by pretending to be in distress and steal items from their houses. Recently, two women, Tumpa Das and Lali Das, who used to move with a 10-year-old boy and two toddlers and posed as being worst-hit by the pandemic and Cyclone Amphan, were arrested by Garfa police for stealing laptops and mobiles from various houses in Garfa, Selimpur and Jadavpur.
While the women and toddlers kept the victims busy in a conversation, the 10-year-old stole various electronic gadgets. They also robbed the locked houses in southern parts of the city.