Kolkata: A mobile toilet van, parked adjacent to the divisional reserve office (DRO) of South Division located on the compound of the office of deputy commissioner of police (south), was tampered with and its heavy-duty battery was stolen.The high-level security breach inside a heavily guarded police establishment has caught senior officers off guard. “The theft may be insignificant but the place of occurrence is important,” said an officer. Lalbazar officials acknowledged that if criminals could gain access to a vehicle parked inside the DC South compound, public utility sites and municipal yards, too, were vulnerable to thefts.The theft from the 34, Park Street police complex was discovered around 10 am on Tuesday, leading to a citywide crackdown ahead of Durga Puja. An FIR was registered at the Park Street Police Station on Wednesday following a complaint, lodged by sergeant Arindam Datta, MTO, South Division. The detective department has pitched in, providing technical help to the local police. Police said the incident highlighted a rising trend of targeted thefts, aimed at govt and civic infrastructure, with KMC compactors, and electric vehicles also being targeted. An officer said a gang, earlier operating near Vedic Village in Rajarhat, had recently shifted base towards the south and port region, while individual petty offenders, disguised as scrap dealers, were infiltrating residential areas.In response to the breach of the police premises, Lalbazar has instructed all local police stations and the detective department (DD) units to track pattern-based offenders, using CCTV footage, call detail records (CDRs), timing patterns and geographic clustering to bust such gangs of thieves ahead of the festive season.
