Mysuru: Last night’s Lunar Eclipse gave a perfect opportunity for burglars to strike in city and they made the most out of it by looting cash from eight shops in Kuvempunagar, Saraswathipuram and Jayapura Police limits.

Though it was a sky-sent opportunity, burglars could not make away with much cash. But the way they pried open shop shutters has worried the Police as it is not the handiwork of regular lock-breaking criminals but burglars who have made use of technology for the crime.

In all, eight shops were burgled and cash of about Rs.50,000 was looted. Surprisingly some of the thefts took place close to the 24×7 Police Check-Post on the Bogadi Ring Road and the Police had no clue about the crime. Shop owners and residents alleged that the Police took for granted that nobody would venture out of their houses during Lunar Eclipse and dozed off, giving a free hand to burglars.

All the thefts came to light this morning when the respective shop owners came to their shops to open the shutters. First it was Srikanteshwara TV Centre, bang opposite the Police Check Post on the Bogadi Ring Road. Ironically it is a Check Post that is open 24/7.

Burglars managed to open the shutters by tying the shutter handle with an iron chain. While one end of the chain was tied to the shutter handle, the other end was tied on to a vehicle. Later, the vehicle was started and it pulled the chain, forcing the shutters to open towards the front side.

The tyre marks of the vehicle were visible on the road and surprisingly, the personnel posted in the Check Post did not even hear the sound of the breaking shutters. The burglars took away Rs. 3,000 cash that was kept inside the cash counter.

Next the burglars targeted Ramdev Textiles, 100 metres from the Police Check Post on the Ring Road and used the same technique to break the shutters. They, however, did not find any cash here. After the futile attempt at Ramdev Textiles, the MedPlus outlet at Netaji Circle in Dattagalli Third Stage was the target.

Here, the burglars used hydraulic jacks to pry open the shutters. They took away Rs. 30,000 cash kept in the cash counter. While the burglars took away Rs. 30,000 that were bundled with Rs. 2,000 and Rs. 500 currency notes, they did not touch the Rs. 5,000 bundle that had Rs. 100, Rs. 50 and Rs. 10 notes.

The burglars next chose Ashok Bhandar in the same locality and took away Rs. 6,000. They broke open the shutters of S.R. Enterprises and took away Rs. 4,000 cash. Next they targeted Pathanjali outlet in the area and managed to take away Rs. 5,000 cash.

The Police said that the burglars took away only cash and did not take the risk of looting other items though they had a vehicle with them. They did not even touch costly electronic items. The burglars later moved on to Someshwara Nagar in Jayapura Police limits and targeted two shops and took away petty cash.

Police said that all the thefts took place between 1.30 am to 4.30 am. Police sources said that many Policemen were put on Ashada Shukravara security at various temples in the morning and the night beat too was not that intensive at Kuvempunagar and Saraswathipuram.

It may be recalled that last year, a similar incident where eight shops were burgled in a single night at Vijayanagar was reported. The thefts took place at Surya Bakery Road and near the Abhishek Circle.

Senior Police officers including DCP (crime and traffic) Dr. Vikram V. Amathe, City Crime Branch ACP B.R. Lingappa, City Fingerprint Unit ACP Rajashekar, Kuvempunagar Inspector Manjunath, Saraswathipuram Inspector Nagegowda, Sub-Inspector Appaji Gowda visited the spot along with dog squad and fingerprint experts.

Police sources told Star of Mysore that considering the seriousness of the crime, a few Policemen might be suspended for dereliction of duty.