Burglars decamp with valuables worth Rs 12 lakhs from JNU professor’s house

This is the second burglary case reported from within the campus, which is guarded by over 250 private security guards.

A group of men broke into the house of a Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) professor inside the university campus and decamped with cash and jewellery worth around Rs 12 lakh , police said on Saturday. This is the second burglary case reported from within the campus, which is guarded by over 250 private security guards round-the-clock, in a fortnight.

Two FIRs have been registered at the Vasant Kunj (north) police station in both the incidents, but no breakthrough had been made in either case till Saturday. (HT Archive)

Police suspect both the cases to be the handiwork of the same gang.

Currently, the entry of outsiders in the campus is restricted because the university are closed.

The first incident, police said, had taken place at the government-allotted residence of an Indian Administrative Service (IAS) officer in the first week of May. That incident had come to light when a neighbour of the officer — currently posted in Himachal Pradesh — had noticed the break-in and informed him. The officer then filed a police complaint,.

Two FIRs have been registered at the Vasant Kunj (north) police station in both the incidents, but no breakthrough had been made in either case till Saturday. “We have registered a house breaking and burglary case under Sections 457 and 380 of Indian Penal Code, against unknown people. Multiple teams are working to crack the cases,” said deputy commissioner of police (south-west) Devender Arya.

On the latest break-in, a senior police officer on the condition of anonymity, said that the crime came to their notice on Thursday night after Avijit Pathak, professor in The Centre for the Study of Social Systems (CSSS) of JNU, filed a complaint.

Contacted, Pathak questioned the security at the varsity and said that the security guards never allow any teacher or student to enter the campus without proper verification. But when it comes to securing the housing complex, they do nothing.

“I have been teaching and living on the campus for the last 30 years and have never faced any such crime. I am surprised that despite the heavy deployment of security guards, the burglars could easily break into my house and flee with cash, jewellery and other valuables,” said Pathak.

Pathak in his complaint said that due to the ongoing lockdown, he had locked and left his residence on March 20 to go stay with his daughter, who lives living in nearby Munirka. On May 14 (Thursday), Pathak’s neighbour informed him on phone that the rear door of his house was open.

“The professor reached the campus with his daughter and found the rear entrance of his residence broken. They went inside and found the house burgled and household items scattered on the floor. Initially, the professor was not sure what all items were missing. Later, he gave a list of missing cash, jewellery and other valuables, worth around Rs 12 lakh,” said the officer.

Another officer, who is part of the investigating team, said crime scene investigation experts visited the professor’s house. After examining the crime scene, they figured that the gang,which had burgled the IAS officer’s house earlier, could be involved, as the modus operandi was similar.

“In both the cases, the suspects entered the house after breaking the rear door. The distance between the two houses is approximately 400 metres. We can’t rule out the role of someone from within the campus . The possibility of outsiders gaining entry is also being probed,” said the officer, adding that cash and jewellery worth around Rs 10 lakh had been stolen from the IAS officer’s locked house.

In 2016, the police had arrested three members of a gang that had committed a series of burglaries at JNU housing complex. The investigating teams in the latest cases are probing if the arrested burglars are out of jail and are again striking locked houses on the campus, where no CCTV cameras are installed .

The station house officer (SHO) of the Vasant Kunj North police station has written a letter to the JNU administration, asking them to increase vigil on campus and intensify patrolling by private security guardss.

A senior JNU administration official, who did not want to be named, said, “ The university takes security issues very seriously and patrolling happens regularly. We also issue circulars stating that if people leave the campus, they should inform the security office. This did not happen in both the cases. We are cooperating with the police in the investigation,” said