the goan I network
Old Goa
In a major burglary, silver, brass and copper items were stolen from the ancestral house of the Panvelkar family at Patto-Ribandar, the value of which could run into several lakhs of rupees.
Surprisingly, the burglary came to light only on Sunday after one of the family member Nisha Panvelkar, who visits the house regularly, noticed an utensil lying outside the hall where the utensils were kept.
At present nobody resides in the ancestral house and only the family priest comes daily to perform pooja.
“I found that a lock of one room on the ground floor was broken and it was latched from inside. Later I went to the first floor where I found a utensil lying outside the hall where the utensils are kept,” Nisha added while informing that when she went to open the door of the hall it was already open and all the items were missing.
“I called up my son Vikram to inform about the incident. I further noticed that silver items kept in a wooden trunk in the room next to the hall were also gone,” she stated.
Some of the major items mentioned as stolen by another family member included two pure silver lamps weighing around 20 kgs, one gold-plated double bed with silver-plated posts, one trunk full of silver and gold-plated silver items, and several large and heavy pure silver plates.
“It would take us at least two days to ascertain the exact number of items stolen,” said a member of the family who however informed that the list would go beyond one hundred.
Upon receipt of the complaint, the Old Goa police led by PI Sudesh Velip arrived at the spot and started preliminary investigation. A sniffer dog was also pressed into service and a forensic team conducted investigation to get vital clues.
The Old Goa police however said that the robbery could be a handiwork of a person who knew the household very well as there were no signs of forced entry. “It could have also been done over a period of time as it would be impossible to steal all the items at one go without the neighbours noticing,” said a police source.
The police have asked the Panvelkar family for a list of workers employed to do minor as well as major chores around the house.
