Team Herald
CALANGUTE: In a daring robbery at Calangute market, two unknown individuals stole Rs 94,000 and gold ornaments weighing 25 grams after entering an apartment next to the market in the early hours of Sunday. No arrests have been made.
A complaint has been lodged by Abuzar Sheikh with the Calangute police station, stating that an unknown person entered his premises in the Braganza Apartments by climbing from the backyard and cutting the metal grill of the balcony. The thief then opened a cupboard and stole a bag containing cash and gold that had been kept there. No one was present in that room at the time. The incident occurred between 4 am and 5 am when the residents were asleep in the other rooms.
The robbery came to light when a family member entered the room around noon on Sunday and discovered the cupboard ransacked and the bag containing the cash and gold missing. They subsequently checked the CCTV footage, which recorded the thief entering from the backyard.
Miriam Sheikh, a family member, stated that due to the numerous robberies in the area, they had installed CCTV cameras on all sides. “We thought we’d put CCTV cameras everywhere and nobody would dare to come and rob like this,” she said.
The robbery can be clearly seen in the CCTV footage. “At around 3:54 am, two individuals entered the backyard and surveyed the area for around 30 minutes. Then one of them started climbing onto our balcony like Spider-Man, cut open the grill, entered the room, and was inside for 15 minutes before leaving,” she explained.
She mentioned that several police complaints have been made by neighbours. Last week, a two-wheeler was stolen, and a few days ago, someone cut the fuel pipe of their two-wheeler and stole the petrol.
“I request the Calangute police to start patrolling this area at night so that we can feel safe. Too many labourers and junkies come and sit here. We’ve complained about this before. Now we’re scared because they’ve entered our house. Next time they might carry a weapon as well,” a family member expressed.