Burglars target houses vacated by quake-fearing residents in Bihar

Rattled over the 18 tremors over the past two days, most panic-stricken residents of Patna spent their nights in parks, open fields and the famous Gandhi Maidan. 

In fact, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had to travel from one park to another late on Sunday night asking people to stay calm and not pay heed to rumours.

Burglars, meanwhile, took full advantage of the empty houses and in several instances decamped with cash and valuables worth several lakhs. The first incident was reported from Kautaliya Nagar, near Patna airport. 

The owner of the house, former minister Muneshwar Choudhary, had gone to Hajipur to attend a wedding, but could not return after tremors were felt in Vaishali and nearby areas. 

He had asked his relatives to take care of the house till he returned. But alarmed by the frequent tremors, they shifted to an open field.  
This gave burglars a god-sent opportunity to break into the house and decamp with Rs 6 lakh in cash and ornaments worth several lakhs.

Burglars struck again in the same colony, entering the house of another former minister, Kripanath Pathak, and ex-legislator P N Sharma, and decamping with cash and other valuables.

Separate FIRs have been lodged at the airport police station in all the theft cases. Sniffer dogs and forensic experts have been pressed into service as all the victims are VIPs. 

“These incidents took place when the occupants were not at home. But we will try our best to crack the case at the earliest,” said Ghulam Sarvar, the station house officer of the airport police station.

Similar reports of burglary have been reported from the Rajendra Nagar, Rajiv Nagar and SK Puri areas in the state capital.