Crime rising at Ghaziabad’s Shipra Suncity

Robberies and thefts are on a rise in the Indirapuram township, despite the presence of a police post at one of the society’s main gates.

In the most recent incident of robbery at Shipra Suncity township, a resident of Windsor Nova apartments was robbed of valuables worth Rs. 1.5 lakh from his residence on June 22. Robberies and thefts are on a rise in the township, located at Vaibhav Khand in Indirapuram, despite the presence of a police post at one of the society’s main gates.

Manu Singh, the latest victim of robbery, said that he had gone out with his son around 10am on the day of the incident and returned around 3pm. He asked his son to open the lock while he parked his car in the parking.

“My son told me that the lock was broken. When I went upstairs, I tried locking the gate but the robbers had put a hook on the latch from the inside so that it couldn’t be closed. While I tried to remove the hook, one of the robbers came to the door and threatened to shoot me if I didn’t leave them alone,” Singh, who is an engineer with a firm in Noida, said.

“While my son ran upstairs, I ran downstairs and raised an alarm that my house was being burgled. The robbers came after me and threatened to shoot if I did not shut my mouth. They were carrying an iron road and a bag that was presumably filled with my valuables. However, I didn’t see any gun on them,” he said.

The security guards reached the spot and started to chase the robbers but they managed to escape in a Hyundai Santro car, Singh said. “The incident took place between 2.30 pm and 3 pm as the domestic help had come around 2.15 pm and said that the door lock was intact,” Singh said.

An FIR was filed against two unidentified persons under sections of armed robbery. Singh said that a CCTV camera installed in front of his house was not working at the time of the incident.

Residents of the township are worried about the increasing thefts. “Every ten days, a vehicle theft is reported form the society, besides burglaries and chain snatching. Since the police have not taken any action, most residents do not even bother to lodge a complaint,” Ravindra Nath Rai, president of Shipra Suncity apartment owners’ association, said.

“We have increased checking and patrolling in the area, in view of the rising incidents (of crimes). The officials posted at the police post of the society have also been instructed to be alert at all times. We suspect one gang is behind the burglaries. Residents have been instructed to maintain CCTV cameras in the society premises,” Gorakhnath Yadav, SHO, Indirapuram police station, said.