Moodubelle, 18 Oct 2012: In what could be considered as the heavy handed robbery, gold worth over Rs. 15 lakhs was stolen from the house of Mrs. Judith Lobo at Thirlapalke during the night of October 17-18. The lone occupant of the house, Mrs. Judith Lobo had gone to her mother’s place at Udupi on Monday, October 15, 2012 and returned only when she came to know the robbery on October 17, morning.
Taking the advantage of the absence of Mrs. Judith Lobo, the robbers struck her residence, broke open the main door and ransacked the cupboards and decamped with the gold ornaments weighing 320 grams valued over Rs. 15 lakhs. Incidentally, the thieves left behind artificial jewellery which was of no value to them.
On receiving the information, the ASI from Shirva police station rushed to the scene of the crime so also the crime branch policemen from Shirva. Fingerprint experts from Udupi as well as dog squad were pressed into investigation.
Police lament that in spite of their repeated appeal to the public to be careful about the costly belongings such as gold ornaments, people have been taking their warnings very lightly. The police have been educating the people about the danger of exhibiting and keeping large amount of gold at home and leaving the house unguarded. In spite of the incidents of chain snatching and robberies, people are yet to awake to the seriousness of these problems.