Robbers disguising as devotees break into houses; loot cash, jewelry

Hyderabad: Robbers masquerading as devotees have gone on a looting spree breaking into the houses of locals during the Medaram Jatara tribal festival at Jatara.

Lakhs of devotees from Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Karnataka and Chattisgarh have converged in Jatara for Asia’s biggest tribal festival.

Taking advantage of the huge rush, miscreants have looted several houses of the local devotees in the neighborhood.

In one such incident, unidentified robbers broke into the house of local businessman at Peddashapur village of Shamshabad and decamped with gold and other valuables. Badrinath along with his family had gone to Jatara on Friday.

Since Jatara is heavily crowded, the family preferred to keep their jewelry at home before embarking on a spiritual journey. They told police that they had carried only cash with them while keeping jewelry in one of the cupboards at home.

When they returned home on Friday night, they found lock of the main door broken. They found cupboard open and valuables missing.

Police said gold weighing 6 tolas, silver articles weighing more than half kg and around Rs 60,000 in cash were stolen. A case has been registered and special teams have been formed to nab the culprits.

Similar incident was reported at Alwal in the city. Unidentified robbers’ barged into three houses of a family and looted gold jewelry. The family had gone Medaram Jatara when the robbers struck

Family told the police that around 30 tolas of gold articles, silver articles weighing around 40 tolas and cash around Rs 2.50 lakh was stolen from three houses. The robbers gained entry into the houses by breaking the main door locks .

Residents have expressed anger over the incidents and blamed police for not taking enough measures to stop robberies in the area. Locals said police have failed to take precautionary measures akin to Dasara and Sankranthi festivals.