Burglars strike at 16 flats of hsg society, Rs18 lakh booty lost

When the residents of the Maxima Society in Hinjewadi area locked their flats on Tuesday morning, they had little idea that their houses were so vulnerable.

In a daylight robbery of sorts, unidentified men burgled, not one or two, but 16 flats in the society and decamped with gold and cash worth Rs18 lakh. The burglars targeted all the locked flats in the society. All the flats are owned by IT professionals working at the Hinjewadi IT Park. The robbers struck at houses from all the five wings in the society.

Police said that the society is under construction, but most of the flats have been sold. The society has five different buildings and each building has 12 floors.

“Most of the flats owners leave their houses in the morning and return in the evening. As a result, most of the flats remain locked for the whole day,” senior police inspector PD Patil of Hinjewadi police station told dna.

Patil said that due to the ongoing construction activities, neither the security guards nor residents suspected the burglars. “Plumbing, electricity and other works are still going on in the society.

For this, labourers keep moving in and out of the premises. The burglars might have entered posing as labourers.”

The police believe that the robbers did a recce of the society before planning the burglary. They broke the door locks and latches with the help of crowbar. They have broke into all the houses in a similar way.

“The incident came to light when the owner of one of the burgled flats returned home. Soon, they came to know that 16 such flats have been burgled,” Patil added. A complaint in this regard has been lodged by a victim Shivprasad Marutrao Kenche (29), a resident of D - 602 flat in the Maxima Society with Hinjewadi police station. According to the police, the society has four guards for over 200 flats in the society, but no CCTV cameras in the lifts and on the gates.

Patil said that five to six persons might be involved in the crime. “It would not have been possible otherwise to target all these flats at the same time. We are in process to collect CCTV footages from nearby commercial shops.”

Police said several IT professionals working in the Hinjewadi IT Park are buying flats in the area without thinking about safety measures.  “Due to long working hours time and bad traffic, most IT professionals prefer to buy flats within Hinjewadi and nearby areas. Most of the constructions sites here are going on in isolated areas. As a result, the security of their houses is one of the key concern. In order to curb all these crimes, we have intensified patrolling,” Patil added.