Burglars eyeing locked houses of techies

Praveen Kumar | NT

Bengaluru: With ‘work from anywhere’ being the norm at many tech companies, a lot of apartments and houses in the city have remained locked for months. This has now invited the attention of burglars and the number of thefts is on the rise, especially in areas having a sizeable techie population.

In one such case reported in the Bellandur police station limits, a 40-year-old software engineer, who had locked his house and gone to his home town in Kalaburagi, returned after 14 months to find that the thieves have checked out every nook and corner of the house and taken away a 42-inch new LED TV, news silk sarees, a baby walker, children’s tiffin carrier and some valuables.

“I had gone to Kalaburagi as I had an option of working from home. On Monday I got a call from my neighbour about the theft. The next morning I came to the city and the first place I visited was the Bellandur police station. As the house was locked for almost 14 months, there was dust everywhere in the house and the footprints of the accused were clearly visible. The gang have checked every remote corner of the house and surprisingly they have stolen clothes, television and some kid’s items. Few gold ornaments and cash, all worth around Rs 1.2 lakh have also been stolen,” the house owner, Sandeep Kori, who works for an IT firm in Whitefield, told NT.

Kori’s house is located in KPCL Layout on the Kasavanahalli Road. The building where he stays has four units, out of which three are vacant, and Kori was staying on the second floor.

Police suspect that the workers of a newly-started construction in the neighbouring plot may be involved in the theft. They must have noticed that the house had remained closed for a long. After Kori and his family left the city, the old building in the neighbouring plot was pulled down and a new three-storeyed residential complex is being built.

“In the neighbouring plot, a new building is under construction. The workers are being suspected behind the theft,” Kori added.

The Bellandur police have registered a case and begun investigations. Unfortunately there are no CCTVs in any of the nearby buildings, to provide vital clues about the suspects.

“Most of the IT crowd in the city have locked their houses and have gone to their home towns. They should keep an eye on the locked houses. If they are unable to come, they should assign somebody to make visits at least once in a few days. The workers in the adjacent building had stopped coming to work for almost five days after the complaint was filed. They have started working again from Friday and their role is being strongly suspected,” said a police officer.

Meanwhile, Kori and family have decided to vacate the house and move to Whitefield.