8 cops, judge in quarantine after thieves test positive

Lockdowns have made everyone change track, even robbers . Unable to get their hands on gold and gadgets with people staying put in their homes, it’s the liquor vends and grocery stores that have become the new targets across the country this month.Maharashtra’s string of robberies reads like a shopping list from restaurant (rather bakery since butter and eggs seem to be hot). In Bhiwandi, burglars made off with 300 eggs, 6 packets of flour, 4 litres of milk, 60 bags of rice and other groceries worth Rs 2 lakh from Rakesh Kirana store on Friday. From a Borivali store, butter worth Rs 1,400 was stolen. Mumbai’s Tilak Nagar police registered an FIR after unknown individuals broke into a shop at Chembur and fled with cigarette packets, tobacco sachets, beedis and Rs 3,000 in cash. In Kolkata’s Chitpore, robbers made off with spices, soap, detergent powder and cash by breaking down a shop door.For thieves, the clampdown on booze sales have lent an aura to liquor vends so far restricted to a diamond shop. Andhra Pradesh has reported 24 cases of theft at liquor shops so far during the lockdown.On April 1, burglar broke into Sri Venkateswara Wines in Bhoiguda, Secunderabad, and stole 20 bottles of liquor worth Rs 26,000 and Rs 8,000 cash. The shop owner found out four days later while going through the store’s CCTV feed and lodged a police complaint. The culprits were identified as Faizan and P Himendra, a BCom student. They were arrested on April 10, but by that time, they had eight bottles left. “The duo sold 12 bottles for Rs 42,000, three to four times above the original price,” inspector M A Javed said.Earlier this month, two incidents of liquor theft were reported in Delhi in 48 hours. In the first, thieves in the Mundka area of Outer Delhi broke into a closed government liquor shop and stole several boxes of liquor worth lakhs of rupees.In the second, a police patrol on Roshanara Road found many cases of liquor missing from the Delhi Consumer Cooperative Whole Store.Some thieves are more trouble when caught.In Punjab, Ludhiana police caught two motorcycle thieves, but one of them started showing symptoms and had to be taken for coronavirus screening.He tested positive, resulting in eight personnel of Focal Point police station being quarantined along with the judge before whom the thief was produced.