4 shops burgled in Majith Mandi in walled city

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, March 10

While the Police Department is busy in providing foolproof security arrangements for the counting centres, unknown persons burgled four shops in the Majith Mandi area in the walled city, famous for dry fruit and the spices trade late last night.

Ironically, there were no CCTV cameras installed nor any security arrangement is in place in the market where trade worth lakhs occurs daily. The incident has led to panic among traders who have been demanding suitable security arrangements.

The thieves decamped with Rs 20,000 in cash besides several silver idols from the shops. The police have started investigations. The police authorities said that a dog squad has been pressed into service while forensic and fingerprint evidence was destroyed due to the presence of a huge number of people.

The traders said that due to the Holi festival, the market was closed for four days. Today was the first holiday. Ashwani Kumar, a shopkeeper, said that he received information from a local resident that the locks of his shops were broken. He said thieves took away Rs 7,000 in cash besides several other things. The accused also committed theft at a medicine shop. Another trader, Sanjiv Arora, said the accused stole Rs 5,000 from the cash box while they failed to break open the locker. Similarly, Sukesh Chawla said that the accused took away Rs 8,000.