Cops on the lookout for inter-state gang from Bihar after recent thefts

KOCHI: City police, already on the trail of local thieves, are facing a new headache in the form of an inter-state burglary gang known for its unique modus operandi. They steal valuables from shops without breaking locks in the early hours of the morning. Police said gang members lifted the rolling shutters and one of the members would sneak in and steal valuables.Though the gang was involved in theft cases reported in Thrissur and Ernakulam some years ago, police suspect its role in two recent cases that were reported in Kochi.Ernakulam central CI A Ananthalal said that the police had come across two recent cases where shops were targeted by burglars using this unique modus operandi. Burglars had entered the two shops by either lifting or pulling rolling shutters as a group so that one of them could sneak in and lift valuables, said the officer.In the first case, reported on September 13, burglars targeted Sulaiman Watch Company on MG road. According to police, watches worth nearly Rs 29 lakh were stolen from the shop.The Ernakulam central police has registered a case and started in vestigation. In the second case, a mobile shop operating at Vyttila was robbed by unknown persons on October 6. The police said that the burglars had entered the shop by pulling the rolling shutters. They decamped with mobiles worth around Rs 7 lakh.“We have secured a CCTV visual of a group of men leaving the place at night, probably after committing the theft. One of them is carrying a shoul der bag. As the visual is not clear, we are unable to identify them. The gang members initially sleep on the verandah of shops in the guise of migrant workers. They pull the rolling shutter as a group when no one is around. Rolling shutter that do not have lock in the central position will bend easily when a group of men use force,“ said the police.They added that these cases were similar to a case reported at Palarivattom station in 2010 in which group of nine men hailing from Bihar had stolen laptops and electronic gadgets from a shop. Though the police held seven members of the group, they managed to get bail.“The group members fled immediately after securing bail. The city police had traced their location to a village under the control of Naxals in Bihar. They could not be taken into custody“, said sources.