Not immune to parched throats as heat peaks, thieves strike MP liquor stores for cash, chilled beer

Amarjeet.Singh1@timesofindia.com

Bhopal: As a sultry and unforgiving summer beats down on Madhya Pradesh, thieves in Narmadapuram district are increasingly picking on liquor shops not just to pinch cash but also find a cure for dry throats.

In a recent run of thefts that has almost set a pattern, thieves in Narmadapuram struck liquor shops, fleeing with cash but not before helping themselves to a few bottles of chilled beer and liquor.

In the latest incident in the Sawalkheda area, burglars broke into a liquor outlet by removing tin sheets from the rear side and escaped with Rs 39,000 cash, two mobile phones, beer cans and a bottle of whiskey while four staffers at the store slept, clueless about the loot.

According to the FIR filed at the local police station, the incident took place on May 17 night when the four store staffers woke up to find one of their mobile phones, placed by a pillow, missing. On checking further, they discovered that another mobile phone and four bags containing cash were also missing.

The employees later found the bags abandoned near a canal behind the shop with their contents strewn on the ground. On further inspection of the premises, they noticed that the unidentified thieves removed nuts from a tin sheet at the rear side of the shop to break in through the opening.

“They took away two cell phones, along with Rs 39,000 in cash that was kept in our bags, along with two crates of beer, each containing six cans. Both the crates were packed with chilled beer. They also took away a bottle of IMFL whiskey,” Prem Kumar Suryavanshi, the complainant and one of the liquor shop staffers, told TOI.

Police registered a case against unidentified persons and searches were underway for the thieves and their loot.

In a strikingly similar burglary reported barely two days ago in the Sohagpur area of the district, thieves allegedly entered a liquor shop near Vatika Hotel by removing tin sheets and escaped with about Rs 25,000 in cash and liquor bottles.

The similar modus operandi in both incidents has prompted police to suspect the involvement of the same gang in the liquor store hits.