Christian school ransacked in Delhi

Cops suspect theft as Rs 12k stolen from principal's office

Unidentified men broke into a prominent Christian school in south Delhi and damaged property before making away with a few thousand rupees in the early hours of Friday.

Delhi Police Commissioner B S Bassi said investigations as well as CCTV footage suggested it was a theft and not a case of desecration. Accordingly, a case of theft has been registered at Vasant Vihar police station. The incident also led the school to be closed for the day.

Aam Aadmi Party convenor Arvind Kejriwal condemned the incident on Twitter, and said such acts would not be tolerated. Union minister Smriti Irani, an alumnus of the convent, visited it in the morning and demanded a serious probe into the incident.

Two men reportedly broke into the office of the principal of the Holy Child Auxilium School, located on Poorvi Marg in Vasant Vihar, at around 3 am on Friday. They entered the school and broke six CCTV cameras inside the building to conceal their identity.

“Footage from one CCTV camera showed that one of them tried to hide his face with a cloth, while the other used a piece of cardboard. That camera was damaged soon after it captured their images,” said a senior police officer.

The suspects gained entry into the principal's office by breaking open the door with a rod they had possibly brought along. They also managed to open the administrative office adjacent to the principal’s office.  School staff said the men then ransacked the entire office, opening cupboards and strewing documents in the room. They even shattered a glass pane in the principal’s room, but the police suspect that they were looking for money or valuables.

Principal Sister Lucy said the incident came to light when a maid came to open the school and found the two rooms open and ransacked.

The principal said Rs 12,000 was discovered missing from her drawer. However, a box containing coins collected by the schoolchildren was left untouched, said sources.

The principal said the men had damaged all CCTV cameras inside the corridors. Cameras outside the corridors, however, were intact, and police are relying on them for clues.

The role of an insider is suspected in the incident, which even school staff said appeared to be a theft, devoid of any intent to create religious tension.
DH News Service