Today , in the morning at about 7:00 AM , I was woken up by a sharp ring from the Police Control Room. In my cellphone , I have set a particularly loud & distinct ring tone for the calls from the Police control Room . This lets me attend those urgent calls without fail. When I picked up the call, the operator informed me that there was a robbery in the Police station kotwali area. A group of 4 robbers entered into a house and looted jewellery and cash from a family at gunpoint. They also beaten up the husband and wife before vanishing in the dense fog . The ill-fated family had the marriage of their daughter fixed in the coming month of December. Needless to say , all the ornaments purchased for the would-be bride were gone.
I reached the spot and found that Inspector Sonakia from Police Station Kotwali was already there with his team. I inspected the spot and directed the police team about the investigation .What I noticed that the house was situated in a densely populated area . The row-houses were very close to one another.The three story building had three tenants , one each at every story.The house was a very unlikely choice for a robbery attempt. Then I went to the back of the house and instantly found why this locality was chosen ?
The main railway track that connects the entire North India to the South passes through Morena and it was hardly 40 yards from the back of the house. Even Morena Railway Station was not far. You may ask , what on earth the rail track has to do with the robbery ?
In my 20 years long career in the police I have seen several such instances where it proved to be highly risky to live in a house in a locality near the railway track. The robber gangs use these railway tracks as guiding lines for recce and committing the actual crimes . They come to the city by a train like any other group of travelling people, stay in or near the railway platform , perform recce , commit crime and return back to the station .Once they have boarded the next coming train to anywhere , they are practically impossible to hunt .
This is exactly why I find localities near the rail track very vulnerable to these types of crime. Since,the criminals belong to other cities and they have a time schedule to follow ( that is, they have to catch a predetermined train to a RV Point) , they don't usually hesitate to use force during the crime . Years back , when I was City SP in Raipur ( now in Chhattisgarh), one such crime took place in a very similar locality. It took the victim family many years to overcome the post traumatic stress. I can quote many more examples. Alright , thefts and robberies take place everywhere , but this is one of the ways how the criminals from outside choose their victims .
If you are still in a process of selecting a residential colony or house to make your dream home , my advise is , please avoid a locality or house near the rail track , even if it is available in more affordable prices.
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