Criminals having a free run in Vellore

VELLORE: The Vellore district has emerged as a soft target for miscreants, particularly for inter-state criminals, it seems. A string of  robberies in commercial establishments, particularly pawn broker shops and jewellery showrooms in the district, in the last eight months has indicated that miscreants can strike at  will.Since mid-July last year to end January this year, more than ten grave robberies and waylaying incidents have been reported in different parts of the district and over 1,700 sovereigns of gold jewellery worth ` Five crore and about Rs 50 lakh in cash have been either burgled, robbed or waylaid.“These crimes have really pulled us down. In 2011 alone, property lost was estimated at Rs 4.48 crore and we recovered just above 60 percent of it, which comes to around Rs 2.71 crore worth stolen articles,” said a senior police officer.The sequence of major robberies began with the night of July 19 when a group of burglars made their way into a leather factory owner’s house in Vaniyambadi and slipped into the dark with around 200 sovereign of gold and diamond jewellery worth Rs 40 lakh. After the miscreants decamped with around eight kilos of gold jewels from a pawn broker at Vinnamangalam near Ambur on January 29, the police department convened a meeting with the members of Vellore District Jewellers and Pawn Brokers Association, asking them to be very cautious and install surveillance cameras in their respective establishments.