MAPUSA
A burglary in the St Jerome Church in Mapusa on the intervening night of Thursday and Friday brought to the fore a similar modus operandi used to break into the office of the Se Cathedral at Old Goa in the beginning of November.
On Friday morning, the laity were in for a rude shock when they learned about the St Jerome Church burglary in which the miscreants stole cash of Rs 40,000.
According to the Mapusa police, the incident took place sometime between 10 pm on Thursday and 6 am on Friday.
They said the burglars cut open an iron grill on a window of the office, which is in the room near the main entrance of the church.
Going by the fact that only two iron bars of the grill were cut open, it is suspected that the person who entered the premises appeared to be slim as the passage to pass through the grills was very narrow.
The burglar then ransacked all the cupboards and tables in the office and found cash of Rs 40,000 in the cupboard.
The burglary came to light on Friday morning am when the cashier went to the office at about 9.30 am.
The Mapusa police were notified of the burglary and a team went to the site to conduct investigations.
CCTV footage from the church yard shows a boy walking around during the burglary and police suspect that the same person may have been involved in the church office.
Mapusa police have registered an offence under Sections 457 and 380 IPC and Police Sub Inspector Kiran Naik is investigating the case under the guidance of Police Inspector Tushar Lotlikar.
The stark similarities in burglaries
MAPUSA: While burglar broke into the office of St Jerome Church sometime between Thursday night and the wee hours of Friday, burglars broke into the office of the Se Cathedral at Old Goa sometime between the night of November 7 and the wee hours of November 8.
In both cases, burglars cut iron grills on the windows to enter the offices of both churches and in both burglaries, the persons who entered the premises appeared to be slim as the passages to pass through the grills were very narrow.
In both cases, burglars targetted the offices at both churches and also ransacked both places in a bid to find cash.
While burglars stole cash of Rs 40,000 from the office at St Jerome Church in Mapusa, burglars stole cash of Rs 80,000 from the office of the Se Cathedral.
