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Burglars gone, vendor adds salt to victims’ injury
On March 10, burglars broke into 13 apartments in Sector 54, robbing houseowners of cash and jewellery to the tune of Rs 20 lakh. But as if that shock were not enough, victims on Saturday and Sunday “selectively” started receiving inland postal letters from a vendor asking them to purchase imported multi-lock iron gates, reports Sanjeev K. Ahuja.
On March 10, burglars broke into 13 apartments in Sector 54, robbing houseowners of cash and jewellery to the tune of Rs 20 lakh. But as if that shock were not enough, victims on Saturday and Sunday “selectively” started receiving inland postal letters from a vendor asking them to purchase imported multi-lock iron gates.
Taking the letter to be a “cruel joke,” by the robbers themselves, the victims got together and planned to take the matter to the police.
However, it turned out the letters were not sent by the robbers, but were part of a vendor’s tried and tested “marketing strategy.”
“Earlier too I mailed inland letters offering to sell imported break-in-proof metal doors with 12 locks only at the addresses where burglaries took place,” said Manoj Dahiya, sender of the letters and owner of an agency of metal doors.
On March 10, burglars broke into the 13 apartments owned by working couples between 11 am and 2 pm in East West, Krishna, Brother and Cedar Estate community group housing societies (CGHS). The booty included gold and diamond jewellery and cash.
Sunil Goyal, a senior executive with a multinational telecom company and resident of East West CGHS who lost Rs. five lakh worth of jewellery said, “Initially, I thought that all in the society of 50 apartments must have received such letters. I was shocked to find that only the four apartment owners whose locks were broken, were the selective recipients of such letters. “
“I felt like someone who had committed burglaries was making a mockery of what happened to us and clearly challenging the police,” said Deepak Gupta, another victim and letter recipient.
“It felt like someone putting salt on our wounds.
Dahiya however said he did not find anything wrong in his style of promoting his products.
“I sent similar inland offers to the apartment owners in Sector 23 as they happened to be the most potential customers who need such products. These days I am offering them 10 per cent discount too.”
