In a township where a single case of robbery makes neighbours uneasy, BA Block has seen 10 in the past month. Thieves have broken into homes, garages, cars and, though most of the stolen items are the likes of phones, shoes and cash, residents are going to bed every night, in fear.
In early July, a thief broke into the garage at BA 54 and stole the driver's clothes and Rs 9,000. “The garage had the keys to all our cars. He opened one car and tried to prise out the radio. He also stole four pairs of shoes from our ground floor balcony, including a Rs 25,000 pair that my nephew had just bought from Dubai,” said Dilip Kumar Saha.
The house had its own CCTV and footage was passed on to the police. “We've lived in this block for 38 years but have never faced such an attack before,” said Saha. At BA 105, they tried to break in twice in seven days.
“The first night the lady who lives in our garage saw a thief leaving her premises. She caught hold of his T-shirt and gave chase but got elbowed to the ground. In the scuffle, some of the thief’s loot fell out, including her husband’s stolen wallet,” said Partha Ganguli, resident of the house.
A few nights later, perhaps, the same thief returned. “This time he cut our car’s window rubber lining and was about to break the window when that same lady from the garage spotted him and raised alarm. The block’s night guards were called but they were of no help,” said Ganguli, who has now been forced to hire a private security guard, at great expense. He is also installing mechanised alarms to hoot and shoot LED lights at the first sign of a break in.
There are similar stories across the block and the residents’ association has called a meeting with the police to discuss safety measures tomorrow. “Since our block is near the entry of the township, it is easily accessible to outsiders. There used to be a police kiosk at the entry to our block from the Ultadanga side but it has been discontinued due to lack of manpower. A revival of that outpost would act as a deterrent,” says president Arunava Das. He also says they are getting complaints about miscreants taking shelter in abandoned houses in the blocks.
“We will appeal to residents to contribute so we can hire more night guards. The four or five we have are not enough,” said the resident who paid an old driver to spend the nights in his house while his family went for a holiday last month.
An officer of Bidhannagar north police station said the thieves were coming from places like Maniktala, Girish Park and Ultadanga, and targeting BA Block due to its location. “The thieves are working solo or in groups of two or three. A similar phase had started last year with AC pipe thefts in BA Block but we had upped our vigil and the cases stopped,” says the officer.
“This time we have made two arrests and recovered a few mobile phones. We have also increased night patrolling, on van as well as on cycles.”
Cameras and night guards
BA Block started installing CCTVs in its lanes, in phases, since last year and no theft has taken place in the lanes under surveillance.
“But the block’s cameras are mostly around the community hall. They need to cover the entry points to the block,” said the police officer. “Nonetheless, we could use personal CCTV footage of residents and it helped us make the arrests.”
Last week, 32 high-end CCTV cameras were installed across Salt Lake’s Sector II and the local thana officers are waiting for the same to be installed in Sector I, where BA Block lies. “Till then, the night guards that blocks appoint need to be adept. AA Block has young chaps on the job but the ones in BA are aged and unable to give chase if the situation arises,” he said.
Neighbourhood watch
Indeed, AA Block is as vulnerable as BA and they too are witnessing multiple attempted robberies. “We have four night guards. We could do with three more but this is the best within our budget,” said AA Block secretary Partho Chakraborty.
AA Block ensures their guards are within 40 years of age and agile. In the past month and a half, these guards have caught six or seven thieves, some after giving chase and leaping over walls. One even got injured in the process. “I myself caught a thief trying to steal the tyre of a car. But he took out a blade and started slashing himself. I got startled and let go and the thief fled,” said Chakraborty.
“AA and BA share similar problems but we are asking owners of empty houses to hire their own guards, install CCTVs and asking the police to make surprise visits.”