During lockdown, thieves target former IAF officer’s home

A former air vice marshal filed a complaint with the Sector 20 Noida Police saying that thieves had burgled his house during the lockdown when he was out of town.

A former air vice marshal filed a complaint with the Sector 20 Noida Police saying that thieves had burgled his house during the lockdown when he was out of town.

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Complainant air vice marshal (retd) Shyam Bihari Bajpayee (70) is the nephew of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

He said that the thieves entered the house after damaging the kitchen window’s grille and fled with cash and jewellery. Bajpayee lived with his wife in a ground floor apartment of Jalvayu Vihar society in Sector 25.

Bajpayee said that on March 24, his wife and he were in Bengaluru when the lockdown came into force. “On November 16, we returned to our Noida ground floor home and found the door locked from inside. I called some neighbours and we found that the kitchen window grille was damaged,” he said. Inside, they found their rooms ransacked. Thieves had made away with ₹21,000 cash and some jewellery.

“I am not concerned about the valuables, but it is shocking that it took place in the society. I informed the police and filed a complaint,” he said.

R K Singh, SHO Sector 20 police station, said that a case of burglary under Section 380 of IPC was registered against unknown persons. “The police teams are scanning the CCTV footage to identify the suspects. The society keeps one month footage of CCTV camera. It is not clear if the incident took place in last one month or earlier since the family was away since March,” he said.