Fourth serial burglary in eight months

Mysore/Mysuru: Burglars, who broke into four shops at Agriculture Produce Market Committee (APMC) Yard in Bandipalya near the Outer Ring Road (ORR) junction on Mysuru-Nanjangud Road, have decamped with Rs. 5,000 cash from one of the shops, yesterday night.

Learning from past burglary incidents, traders in Bandipalya do not keep cash in the counters these days and this move has saved them from huge losses.

Burglary took place at Nanjundeshwara Trading & Co., Siddalingeshwara Trading & Co., Vinayaka Traders and one more shop.

Pradeep Kumar, one of the shop owners at Bandipalya said that this is the fourth serial burglary taken place at Bandipalya in eight months with the recent one taken place about 15 days ago where burglars broke into two shops and decamped with about 10 to 15 sacks of rice.

He said that yesterday night, three burglars, using iron rods forcibly opened the rolling shutters of four shops and made away with Rs. 5,000 cash from one of the shops. The burglaries have been captured on CCTV cameras installed in the shop though the burglars had changed the direction of one of the cameras.

He alleged that there were only two security personnel guarding the sprawling APMC Yard yesterday besides stating that in the absence of adequate lights inside the premises, guards hesitate to go on beat in dark.

Pointing out that there are about 600 shops in Bandipalya, traders are not keeping even little cash in the counters following serial burglaries and added that no arrests have been made in connection with the burglaries so far.

It is learnt that most of the CCTV cameras at the APMC Yard have become defunct and the Police have been telling the APMC authorities to get the cameras repaired and also install additional cameras for security purpose, but nothing has been done so far.

Mysuru South Police have registered a case.