Trader loses P379T worth of belongings to 2 thieves

A 32-year-old Indian businessman who had gained Filipino citizenship lost over P379,000 worth of assorted personal things and car equipment to two thieves last week.

But Decpats Saroopdas, a resident of Happy Valley in barangay Calamba, only reported the incident to the Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Branch of the city police yesterday.

The victim told SPO2 Jessie Arong that in the afternoon of November 5, he discovered that some of his personal belongings were stolen from his BMW car inside the garage of his house.

He also found that the transmission part of his brother's Volvo S70 worth P100,000, compressor worth P5,000, spare Volvo tire worth P10,000, and their washing machine worth P4,000 were also stolen from the garage.

Saroopdas claimed that among the stolen articles from his car were two sunglasses, a collection of compact discs worth P60,000, a hat, two pairs of jeans worth P6,000, 30 pieces of t-shirts worth P30,000, a Charles Jordan diamond watch worth P100,000.

He said the thieves also went inside his house and took his brand new X-Box, a computer game gadget worth P20,000.

According to Saroopdas, the incident happened when his two maids were cleaning the house while he was sleeping inside his room.

Arong told The FREEMAN that someone from the victim's house might have helped the thieves gain access because the gate and the fence are too high to climb, adding that there was no sign of force entry.

"Usa sa anggulo nga atong tan-awon nga dunay kakunsabo diha sa sulod kay imposible man kaayong makatangtang sa kadena sa gate," Arong said.

Policemen, who are now conducting a follow-up operation, believed that the stolen items have already been sold. - Edwin Ian Melecio/LPM