The police in Birbhum have decided to prepare a database of elderly residents in Santiniketan and hold regular discussions with them as part of a plan to tighten security in Rabindranath Tagore’s abode of peace, said a senior district police officer.

The vulnerability of elders living in Santiniketan came to light once again on Friday after Haimanty Dattagupta, a 79-year-old retired teacher and a member of the Tagore family, was robbed at knifepoint and locked inside the bathroom.

The elderly woman, Haimanty Dattagupta, who is also great granddaughter of Satyendranath Tagore, had returned to her Calcutta home on Saturday evening by car.

“Santiniketan is the second home of many Calcuttans and a lot of elderly people live in areas like Ratan Pally Diganta Pally, Purba Pally, Prantik and Seemanta Pally. Our estimate is that around 1,500 elderly people live here. Petty crimes like theft, snatching and break-in attempts are regular. We are trying to prepare a database of the elderly to be in touch with them,” said a district police officer.

At present, the police have a programme, named Aswas (assurance), for elderly people in Santiniketan, which was rolled out in 2017. Sources said only 350-odd elderly people could be reached through the programme.

“There was plan to regularly meet them and be by their side even in case of illness or emergencies. Though it was launched with fanfare, the follow up action wasn’t enough,” said a source.

The police had a detailed plan to secure Santiniketan for some time as several of the elderly residents are people of repute and security breaches at their homes embarrass the law enforcers.

The plan of a database and follow-up action through regular interaction with them, however, could not be rolled out properly as many of the residents do not live in Santiketan regularly.

Developing a fool-proof security plan is also easier said than done as most homes are like open bungalows with gardens surrounding them. “If a home is open from all sides, chances of break-in attempts are more. But it is also true that we cannot sit idle anymore after yesterday’s incident,” said an officer.

On Sunday, when this correspondent spoke to some residents of Ashram — old timers call Santiniketan so — they spoke of a sense of insecurity, which got reinforced by Friday’s incident.

“The incident proves that Santiniketan is not secured. We had built the house to spend our retired life peacefully in Santiniketan. But the question is, are we safe?” Oindrila Sen, a retired teacher, who lives with her retired husband, told The Telegraph.

Some residents have complained that parts of Santiketan are not properly illuminated.

Although the main roads are under CCTV cover, residential areas are not under digital surveillance. “We see police on the main roads, but patrol vans do not come inside. If there are patrol vans and CCTV surveillance, they can act as deterrents,” said a resident.

The police said they would start patrolling the lanes of Santiniketan with motorbikes as the patrolling vans couldn’t enter the narrow lanes.