Editorial:
A burglary attempt was foiled in the capital recently, but not before the burglar had cut out two strong locks and smashed the glass door, the last obstacle between him and whatever he could snatch from a shop which houses a PCO and stacks mobile phone recharge vouchers. It was raining at the time, but the break-in attempt was still fearless. A police outpost is less than 100 metres away and the shop is along National Highway 31A. Even with the two lookouts who kept watch while the locks were filed away, chances of detection and even arrest, were high. And the attempt was foiled when the crash of the glass door drew the attention of a neighbour across the street, and the burglars fled when he came down to investigate.
Had it been raining even slightly more heavily, the roar of the jhora would have drowned out the noise of breaking glass. The group would have succeeded and the shop would have been hit for the second time in less than 6 months. The trio took flight and after the alarm was raised, cops even attempted a chase, but young legs can run fast and the culprits remain untraced. As the residents took stock, they realised that the group had broken into a parked vehicle in the same area and attempted to break into another shop. Both shops had wooden doors which offered less noisy break-in options than the rolling shutter shops, but what was disturbing was the realisation that of all the shops in the area, only these two shops had no one living inside. All other shops doubled as residences which would have made undetected thefts impossible. The gang had obviously scoped the area before they hit it. They plied their work at around 2:30 a.m. and it is now learnt that most burglaries are attempted between 2 to 3:30 a.m. It is obvious why. It is now common for families to sleep late, but 2 a.m. is a time when even the insomniacs are dozing off and the rest are in their deepest slumber. This is also the slot when even trucks are not plying on the road, making chance detection difficult.
The details listed above could have easily been accommodated in a news-report, but are included here because it is important to take notice and flesh out the signals the modus operandi sends out. Although it was too dark to identify the trio, what the sole eyewitness confirmed is that they were young, probably still in their teens. This is worrying, because if the burglars were indeed that young and yet so ‘organised’ as to scout the area, identify the hit and then almost succeed, their continuing flirtation with criminal delinquency can harden for more dangerous escapades. It is obvious that the group was not looking at scoring big, otherwise they would have hit shops which guaranteed a more bountiful cache. The only things they could have stolen from the shops they were attempting to break into would have been some loose cash, possibly some mobile phones and recharge vouchers. Although the MO was big, the theft would have been petty. This is obviously not a rare incident and petty thefts are on a dramatic rise, obviously playing out from young groups looking for extra pocket money, possibly to finance a compulsive habit or a new fad. It is important for the society to address this problem, work out a process by which these delinquents can be counselled back into behaving more responsibly before they are irretrievably lost. Responsibility towards this section cannot be shirked because they are still young and because their futures have been compromised by the collective failure of the society to watch out for them and groom them when it was most required. What is also worrying is that even as these youth remain ignored by the society at large, they seem to have access to counsel from those see nothing wrong in ‘training’ them to steal. The timing and the process make it clear that they were briefed on how to carry out a burglary. Only the immediate family and perhaps neighbours can keep an eye out against such influences and this should be complemented by local organisations which can engage the cast away youth in activities which can play them back into becoming part of the society. This is important, and should not be left for the cops who will only start harassing the kids and chasing them away from street corners and pushing them into deeper recesses where even reaching out to them will become difficult. It is really time that Sikkim gave itself an NGO with worked among this section.
A burglary attempt was foiled in the capital recently, but not before the burglar had cut out two strong locks and smashed the glass door, the last obstacle between him and whatever he could snatch from a shop which houses a PCO and stacks mobile phone recharge vouchers. It was raining at the time, but the break-in attempt was still fearless. A police outpost is less than 100 metres away and the shop is along National Highway 31A. Even with the two lookouts who kept watch while the locks were filed away, chances of detection and even arrest, were high. And the attempt was foiled when the crash of the glass door drew the attention of a neighbour across the street, and the burglars fled when he came down to investigate.
Had it been raining even slightly more heavily, the roar of the jhora would have drowned out the noise of breaking glass. The group would have succeeded and the shop would have been hit for the second time in less than 6 months. The trio took flight and after the alarm was raised, cops even attempted a chase, but young legs can run fast and the culprits remain untraced. As the residents took stock, they realised that the group had broken into a parked vehicle in the same area and attempted to break into another shop. Both shops had wooden doors which offered less noisy break-in options than the rolling shutter shops, but what was disturbing was the realisation that of all the shops in the area, only these two shops had no one living inside. All other shops doubled as residences which would have made undetected thefts impossible. The gang had obviously scoped the area before they hit it. They plied their work at around 2:30 a.m. and it is now learnt that most burglaries are attempted between 2 to 3:30 a.m. It is obvious why. It is now common for families to sleep late, but 2 a.m. is a time when even the insomniacs are dozing off and the rest are in their deepest slumber. This is also the slot when even trucks are not plying on the road, making chance detection difficult.
The details listed above could have easily been accommodated in a news-report, but are included here because it is important to take notice and flesh out the signals the modus operandi sends out. Although it was too dark to identify the trio, what the sole eyewitness confirmed is that they were young, probably still in their teens. This is worrying, because if the burglars were indeed that young and yet so ‘organised’ as to scout the area, identify the hit and then almost succeed, their continuing flirtation with criminal delinquency can harden for more dangerous escapades. It is obvious that the group was not looking at scoring big, otherwise they would have hit shops which guaranteed a more bountiful cache. The only things they could have stolen from the shops they were attempting to break into would have been some loose cash, possibly some mobile phones and recharge vouchers. Although the MO was big, the theft would have been petty. This is obviously not a rare incident and petty thefts are on a dramatic rise, obviously playing out from young groups looking for extra pocket money, possibly to finance a compulsive habit or a new fad. It is important for the society to address this problem, work out a process by which these delinquents can be counselled back into behaving more responsibly before they are irretrievably lost. Responsibility towards this section cannot be shirked because they are still young and because their futures have been compromised by the collective failure of the society to watch out for them and groom them when it was most required. What is also worrying is that even as these youth remain ignored by the society at large, they seem to have access to counsel from those see nothing wrong in ‘training’ them to steal. The timing and the process make it clear that they were briefed on how to carry out a burglary. Only the immediate family and perhaps neighbours can keep an eye out against such influences and this should be complemented by local organisations which can engage the cast away youth in activities which can play them back into becoming part of the society. This is important, and should not be left for the cops who will only start harassing the kids and chasing them away from street corners and pushing them into deeper recesses where even reaching out to them will become difficult. It is really time that Sikkim gave itself an NGO with worked among this section.
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