18 July,2011 06:43 AM IST | | Priyanka Vora
The storeroom of the civic run hospital, which is treating eight blast victims, has been robbed of Rs 94,000 worth of materials; this is the third incident of robbery at the hospital this year
In spite of repeatedly coming under the shadow of terror, Mumbai's lax security situation shows no sign of improving.
Materials like electrical wires, taps and valves were stolen
from the storeroom located in the hospital's basement
After security was beefed up all across the city in the wake of Wednesday's terror attacks, including that in hospitals treating blast victims, robbers pilfered valuable materials and escaped from under the security guards' unsuspecting noses on Saturday.
The hospital authorities have confirmed that materials worth an estimated Rs 94,000 have gone missing from the hospital's storeroom.
At 9 am on Saturday, an attendant opened the main door to the ground floor, and stepped into the basement, where the storeroom is located, only to discover that the lock had been picked and electrical wires, taps and valves stolen.
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The hospital has been undergoing extensive renovation, and the storeroom housed a variety of fittings, which were to be used soon.
The attendant alerted the hospital authorities, who immediately informed the security officer. Inspections followed.
"Intriguingly, the lock to the ground floor door was intact, but the lock to the basement door, which it led to, had been broken.
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This indicates the involvement of an insider in the theft. The missing articles weigh anywhere between 60-80 kg.
So sneaking outwith such a heavy load is a difficult task for an outsider," said a senior security officer from KEM.
"The hospital has been sanctioned about 168 posts for security measures, of which 48 remain vacant.
About 1,000 people pass through the hospital precincts every day, but the authorities are always negligent about enforcing security measures. The hospital is an easy target for thieves and miscreants," said another security officer.
The hospital authorities approached the Bhoiwada police, who registered a complaint, and are investigating the theft. "We have registered a case of theft and are inquiring into the matter," said Vikram Bhimrao Patil, senior police inspector.
However, it could well be impossible for cops to nab the miscreant now, since the hospital storeroom was not under surveillance at the time of the theft.
This is not the first time that KEM's slipshod security system has come under the scanner. MiD DAY had reported earlier on another theft that took place in the gynaecology ward. ('Taps missing from KEM OT?').
A few days before that, an expensive and valuable piece of hospital equipment, an autoclave machine, had also inexplicably gone missing from the hospital's OT.u00a0
