Cash, gold and cylinders: Burglars strike 4 times in a day

Chandigarh: Burglars struck at multiple locations across the city on Monday, targeting two houses, a temple and an anganwadi, making off with cash, jewellery, household items and even gas cylinders.At a temple in Dhanas, the burglary occurred between 2 am and 3 am, said Gurvinder Singh, a temple representative. The accused allegedly entered the premises by breaking iron grills at the rear — an area not covered by CCTV cameras. While five cameras were installed at the temple, all faced the front. After gaining entry, the intruder broke open the donation box using an iron rod and decamped with about Rs 10,000 in cash.CCTV footage showed the accused attempting to cover an indoor camera with a piece of cloth, though his face was still clearly captured. He later tried — unsuccessfully — to break into a storeroom at the back. Gurvinder said the suspect was being identified as Ramu, a painter who had worked at the temple and his home around three years ago.In Hallomajra, Avdhesh Kumar reported that burglars struck at his house when he and his parents had left for work around 10 am and left for work. When he returned home around 1 pm for lunch, he found the main door lock broken and the house ransacked. A pair of silver anklets, gold earrings, Rs 4,000 in cash and some clothes were allegedly stolen. Another burglary was reported from Sector 63, where resident Atish said he and a friend returned home around 7 pm to find the main gate lock broken and the flat ransacked. He reported the theft of gold jewellery, including a kara, rings and a chain, diamond earrings, silver anklets and Rs 5,000 in cash. Sector 49 police are probing the case.In a separate incident, an anganwadi centre in Sector 45 was targeted over the weekend. Anganwadi worker Sukhwinder Kaur said the centre was locked on Friday evening. When staff returned on Monday morning, they found the back door open and the premises ransacked. An LED TV, two gas cylinders and an induction stove were missing. Sector 34 police have registered a case against unknown persons and started an investigation.Police have recorded statements in all cases and launched separate investigations.