Kathmandu, June 10

Police have stepped up vigilance against theft and robbery suspects after property crimes rose in Kathmandu Valley recently.

A team deployed from the Metropolitan Police Sector, Mangalbazaar of Lalitpur yesterday arrested Raj Kumar Sah, 50, of Dumariya-3, Rautahat for allegedly robbing a 45-year-old woman of gold earrings she was wearing.

Sah got Krishna Kumari Tamang of Sundhara, Lalitpur drunk at a restaurant and made off with the earrings. DSP Ishwor Karki said the suspect, a scrap collector, was immediately arrested.

Similarly, Dinesh Kumar Thapa, 36, of Nijgadh-5, Bara was caught in the act of stealing gold ornaments from the rented room of Ramnath Yadav in Kupandole, yesterday.

Police have seized 10 items of gold and silver ornaments, and an iron hook used for breaking padlock. The room was unattended when the incident occurred.

In yet another operation, police nabbed Ashish Shrestha, 24, of Sunsari district while he was burgling the house of Gumbu Chhiring Tamang in Machhapokhari, Kathmandu yesterday. Gold ornaments weighing two tolas have been recovered from him.

The Valley recorded as many as 620 incidents of theft since the beginning of this fiscal, according to Metropolitan Police Office. The figure has already surpassed 468 cases of the previous fiscal and  is still on rise.

Property crimes, especially theft, are steadily rising in the Valley and this should sound an alarm for denizens to take extra precaution while they are away from home. Criminals have been making houses and rooms their soft target during office hours when the house owners and tenants leave their abode for daily work.

Police said over 60 per cent of the crime took place in broad daylight in unattended houses and rented rooms of working families. The burglars usually make off with cash, and salable goods like gold and electronic gadgets.  Security officials suggested that daytime burglaries will decrease only if house owners or tenants take care of their cash and valuables or put them in banks and do not leave their houses unattended and install security systems.

Meanwhile, police have sounded an alert against more incidents of property crimes during the monsoon, an ideal time for burglars, as people cannot hear much of anything other than the sound of rain drops falling on objects. DSP Karki informed that joint team of Metropolitan Police Range and Metropolitan Police Crime Divisions were deployed to curb thefts.