GUWAHATI: The Chatribari residents of Fire Brigade Lane, Guwahati have turned into vigilante after repeated incidents of theft in the area. The locals have formed a Whatsapp group to mobilise against the thieves.
"We almost caught one the other day until the police came blaring sirens and the thieves ran away hearing them," said Harjeet Sodhi, whose house was trespassed by miscreants the previous week.
As per the locals, the multiple cases of theft are connected by a systematic way of modus operandi, indicating the involvement of gangs. They even suspect the use of a spray that makes people unconscious.
"I stay alone and I was watching videos on my mobile the other night. Within minutes, I started feeling dizzy and after 10 minutes I fell asleep. Around 2:30 AM I woke up and went to the drawing-room and saw the lock had been broken and the grill was removed. The miscreants had entered and did whatever they had to," said Sandeep, who is an LED wholesaler.
As breaking entry to the apartments becomes a regular feature in the area, locals allege the "inactivity of the police."
This is one of the reasons for which they had formed the group.
"Till they are not caught, we will try our best, as nothing is happening from the other side. The day the incident happened at my house, the police said we patrolled 15 minutes back. How can this be possible under their patrol?" said Sandeep.
So far, two FIRs have been filed regarding the issue. G Plus spoke to the investigating officer of Paltan Bazar, Guwahati who said, "We have not received any leads, patrolling has been going on. We are investigating the matter."
The Police suspected the involvement of anti-social elements like addicts in the situation.
Meanwhile, the residents who have formed the group are also scared about their situation. "We don't know about the status of police investigation. When noise creaks by the night, our group of four-five boys go out in the situation. We are also scared since we are not professional," said Pankaj Modi.
