Thieves use newspaper to check if Gzb family not at home, decamp with cash and jewellery

Ghaziabad: A gang of thieves struck at the house of a senior citizen in Avantika phase 2 in Ghaziabad and cunningly used a newspaper to ascertain if the family was present at the house or not

Ghaziabad: A gang of thieves struck at the house of a senior citizen in Avantika phase 2 in Ghaziabad and cunningly used a newspaper to ascertain if the family was present at the house or not. The incident came to light when the family returned after a holiday on Wednesday morning.

Ghaziabad, India – November 2, 2022: A resident of Ghaziabad, Avantika, claims that thieves broke into her house and stole large sums of money and jewelry. The robbers reportedly broke the lock of her door to enter the house and scattered items all over the place, in Ghaziabad, India, on November 2, 2022. (Photo by Sakib Ali/ Hindustan Times)

The incident took place at the house of Ravindra Kumar Bansal who stays with his wife and daughter. The family had gone to Vaishno Devi temple in Jammu on October 29. They returned on Wednesday morning only to find that their house was robbed.

“Upon return, we found that the main door of the house was open and an iron mesh door in front was ajar. A newspaper was also lying in the open area outside the house. The rooms in the house were ransacked and the thieves decamped with gold and silver jewellery, besides cash. In all, we estimate the loss to be about ₹10 lakh,” Bansal said.

Bansal added that the family has not subscribed to any newspaper but they were surprised to find one in their house.

“It seems to be the modus operandi of the thieves to check if anyone is present in the house or not. The newspaper we found was dated October 29 and was lying in the open area for the few days during which we were out for the holiday. So, it was lying at the same place where it was thrown and the thieves came to know that no one was in the house. We are still estimating what all items have been taken away. The thieves have even taken away suit lengths kept in the cupboards,” Bansal said.

Bansal said that his house is under surveillance with four CCTV cameras and the thieves snapped their cables and also took away the recording device.

“It seems that the theft took place on late Tuesday night as I was keeping a watch on CCTV feed on my mobile till Tuesday afternoon and everything seemed okay. We informed the police and they visited our house to initiate a probe,” Bansal added.

The police said that they have registered an FIR for theft at Kavi Nagar police station.

“We have registered an FIR for theft. The recording device of the CCTVs was also taken away and it is posing difficulty in getting exact details about when the theft took place. However, we have deployed a team and initiated a detailed investigation,” said Amit Kumar, station house officer (SHO), Kavi Nagar police station.