MARGAO: The increasing number of bike thefts has left citizens aworried given the fact that many such cases have occurred in residential areas.
One such robbery was of a two-wheeler that was parked right in front of a house in Sao Tome, Panjim, was reported earlier this month. The lack of CCTV surveillance also worked in favour of the unknown culprits.
In Verna, few bikes have been stolen from a residential area and near the Church itself.
There have been other cases where two-wheelers parked in a public space for a couple of hours were stolen by the time owner the returned to the spot.
While the police have cracked one such case that occurred in Mapusa, there has been a demand from citizens that the police keep them updated about the unsolved cases.
There has also been a demand for better surveillance given that there have been fears expressed by citizens of suspicious movements of strangers near their houses. Several gram sabhas have already passed resolutions due to these issues and other crime-related incidents for a
tenant verification exercise to be completed.
“There used to be a time when we were not so worried about our vehicles parked in front of our houses getting stolen. Either, the culprits were keeping a watch or they had no fear of the law. A strong deterrent must be set. Is this being done by a group of people? Where are the bikes being taken? We need answers,” said Mark Fernandes from Margao.
