Jagatdal residents stay up all night to catch thieves

The residents of Jagatdal, North 24 Parganas, spent sleepless nights to protect their houses from being burgled.

For the past 15 days, residents in the area have been staying awake to ward off thieves.

Fed up with the frequent thefts in the area, the residents have taken upon themselves to protect their houses from being ransacked.

However, the cops are also trying to catch those thieves but they were unsuccessful till Wednesday night.

Manoj Pandey, a local resident, has been staying up all night for the past two weeks.With a stick in his hand, he has been scouting his society along security guards to keep robbers at bay.

Likewise, Pravin Gupta, who lives in the same area, has been forced to do double duty.

He is among the five residents in the area whose houses have been burgled a few days ago. The thieves stole cash and some jewellery.

“We have filed an FIR at the Jagatdal police station who are giving a great effort. However, the society members have decided to guard the homes on their own,” he said.

It has not been an easy task for these residents who work under tremendous pressure in the day and have to do night duty after coming home.

“Lack of sleep has started affecting our health and work,” Gupta said.

Like Pandey and Gupta, other residents in the Jagatdal area — who are either businessmen or working 

in high-ranking positions in private companies — have been forced to stay awake all night, guarding the society.

In past fortnight, the society has witnessed five thefts and around 10 theft attempts.

According to the residents, though they have been terrorised by these incidents, they are left with no option but to safeguard themselves as the security guards have failed to perform their duty.

Notably, the thieves are often armed with sharp weapons.

“We’ve spotted a gang and arrests will be made soon,” a police officer said.