Sandalwood stolen from VC’s residence

Aurangabad, July 15:

Four thieves stole the sandalwood from the premises of the residence of the vice chancellor of Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar Marathwada University (BAMU) after threatening the security guards with a knife in the wee hours on Friday. The guard after the incident informed the police about it, but the thieves had escaped until the police arrived. A case of dacoity has been registered with Begumpura police station, informed PI Prashant Potdar.

The government residence of the vice chancellor is situated near the entrance of the university. One has to cross two gates to enter these quarters.

On Thursday night, security guard Sanjay Pardeshi was on duty at the first gate. The thieves entered at around 3.30 am. They put a knife on Pardeshi’s neck and snatched his mobile phone. They also threatened another guard at the second gate with a knife and took his phone. After cutting the sandalwood the thieves fled from the scene leaving the mobile phones of the guards at the spot, Pardeshi mentioned in his complaint.

The guards then informed the Begumpura police about the incident. DCP Ujwalla Vankar, ACP Ashok Thorat, PI Prashant Potdar and other officers rushed and inspected the spot.

No CCTV in residence

During the police investigation, it was found that there is not a single CCTV camera in the VC’s residence. The CCTV camera is installed some distance away from the residence, but it is defunct. It has been astonished that there is no CCTV camera in the residence of an important person like VC.

Sixth theft in a month

The sandalwood thieves have created havoc in the city. This is the sixth incident of sandalwood theft in the past month. The Osmanpura had arrested two thieves who confessed that they were eyeing around 18 sandalwood trees in various parts of the city. Sandalwood was stolen from Military Hospital, Bank of Maharashtra divisional headquarters, district court area and residence of the district collector. It is a major challenge for the city police to gain control over these thieves.

Thieves are from Mauli Adgaon

Two thieves arrested by Osmanpura police are from Mauli Adgaon and most of the Sandalwood thieves are from this village, informed the senior police officer. They get around Rs 20,000 for 100 grams of sandalwood. The police were attacked in this village on several occasions.

Thieves will be behind the bars

DCP Ujwalla Vankar said the police will nab the thieves soon. They have received CCTV footage and the investigation is on accordingly.