Burglars use swanky cars for crimes to fox guards

PUNE: In six house break-in cases reported in the past two months — in each of which multiple flats were targetted — the burglars had gained uninterrupted access into the premises of guarded housing societies because they arrived in swanky cars. Police said the thieves were either using stolen cars or personal vehicles.

On November 17, the Pune rural police had arrested two men. The duo had entered a bungalow in Lonavla, popularly known as the Kati Patang Bungalow, in their Mercedes car and had made away with valuables worth Rs8.60 lakh.

Police said it’s unlikely that a security guard would suspect people entering the property in a car. Recent incidents, however, have brought to the fore a trend of burglars using cars, stolen ones in some cases, to gain access to housing societies and commit thefts.

On November 18, thieves struck at the Shantiban housing society at Vishrantwadi and stole from five flats. “They entered the society in a car. I thought they were visiting someone here,” the guard said.

On November 27, thieves drove into a housing society on BPLR and broke into five flats. On October 12, at a society at Dattanagar, three flats were hit.

“In all the six instances the burglars had used cars,” said additional commissioner of police (Crime) Pradip Deshpande. “We suspect the thieves belong to a gang. We have obtained the CCTV footages and have managed to locate few suspects. We will soon arrest them,” he said.