Clothes worth crores looted in Lajpat Nagar

It's being touted as one of the biggest burglaries in Delhi, at least in terms of the loot. A designer wear shop in Lajpat Nagar - Roshan's - was burgled of crores of rupees by unidentified assailants on Wednesday night.

On the losing side:u00a0Puneet Kohliu00a0whose shopu00a0was looted.
Pics/Shashank Shekhar

What is startling is that the assailants struck fearlessly on the ring road when there were two security guards deputed andthere were plenty of lights around. This when the Delhi Police Commissioner has promised thorough night patrolling after the Dhaula Kuan rape incident a few weeks ago.

Sources at Lajpat Nagar police station said that they received a call from the store owner, Puneet Kohli, about the burglary. When cops reached the spot they found the locks broken and clothes worth crores of rupees stolen.

"Though the owner has not given us any estimate yet we suspect that the theft is to the tune of crores of rupees, considering the cost of the clothes in the shop," sources said. When MiD Day went to the spot, the owner of the shop, Puneet Kohli said: "The assailants first tried to barge into my house from the backside but when they couldn't they broke the locks of the shop and made away with the clothes." When asked about the estimated theft amount, Kohli said: "I have not estimated it yet as we have been busy, but its a huge loss and surely in crores."

Blaming the Delhi police, Kohli said: "The area is very unsafe. This is the second incident in my house and a few days ago the assailants had stolen cash from a shop nearby and the case is yet to be solved. Most of the goods at my store were insured but what about my family's safety? They almost broke inside my house and they could have done anything."

The shop is located at 56 Ring Road and the owner lives with his family on the first floor. Roshan's is a renowned designer wear showroom and the clothes there are very expensive and ranges in lakhs of rupees. It ios situated just a stone's throw away from Haldiram's in Lajpat Nagar. Two private security guards were deployed by the owner but they were sleeping in the guard room when the burglary took place. The CCTV camera outside the store was not working for the last few days and the camera installed inside did not have night mode, so it could not record anything.u00a0 Burglars also broke the lock of the cash counter and took Rs 12,000. Senior Delhi police officers were unavailable for comments and the ACP of the area didn't comment on the issue.