Palamu: Thieves steal chairs, coolers, inverter and other valuables from panchayat office
THE JHARKHAND STORY NETWORK Daltonganj, August 17: Unidentified thieves broke into the Kajree Panchayat Sachivalaya in Palamu district and allegedly stole almost…
THE JHARKHAND STORY NETWORK
Daltonganj, August 17: Unidentified thieves broke into the Kajree Panchayat Sachivalaya in Palamu district and allegedly stole almost all the movable equipment from the government office, leaving Parwa police struggling to find a breakthrough in the case.
The theft reportedly took place a few days ago. The stolen items include plastic chairs, a revolving chair, an air cooler, a drinking water purifier, an inverter and battery, an LCD, a stabiliser and three used submersible pumps, among other office equipment.
Parwa police have registered a case against unidentified persons on charges of theft and house trespass with the intention of committing an offence under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023. The FIR was lodged on the written complaint of Kusum Bharti, secretary of Kajree Panchayat Sachivalaya.
Police Face Challenge in Tracing Thieves
The incident has surprised police because the Panchayat office is located along NH-39, an area that normally witnesses regular traffic and public movement.
Parwa police station officer-in-charge Anchit Kumar said the number of items stolen suggested that several people may have been involved.
“According to the FIR, a large number of accessories were taken away. It cannot have been the work of just one, two or three people. There must have been more than half a dozen persons involved,” he said.
Police suspect that the stolen items may have been transported in a vehicle. However, rain on the night of the incident appears to have made it difficult to find tyre marks around the Panchayat office.
“There was rain on the intervening night of the theft, so we could not find any tyre marks or impressions around the Kajree Panchayat Sachivalaya,” the officer said.
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No Sniffer Dog Used
Police were also unable to deploy a sniffer dog because investigators could not find any significant material left behind by the suspects or prominent footprints or fingerprints at the scene.
Police sources said there appears to be a broader pattern of thefts targeting government institutions in Palamu over the past two months.
In July, thieves allegedly stole a biometric device from a government school under Untari Road police station.
During the same month, solar panels were reportedly stolen from a government school under Ramgarh police station limits.
Earlier this month, thieves allegedly targeted the information technology room of a government school at Khendra Khurd under Chhatarpur police station. They reportedly stole four desktop computers, keyboards, CPUs, UPS units and a projector, among other equipment.
Lack of CCTV Makes Investigation Difficult
Police sources admitted that there had been no significant progress in several of these theft cases in government institutions so far.
A common factor in the incidents is the absence of CCTV cameras at the targeted locations. From the Kajree Panchayat Sachivalaya to the government school at Khendra Khurd, the institutions reportedly did not have adequate CCTV surveillance.
The repeated thefts have raised concerns over the security of government offices and schools in rural areas of Palamu, particularly those housing valuable electronic equipment and other public assets.
