The Middle East's Leading English Language Daily
25/12/2007
Riyadh Residents Complain of Rise in Holiday Burglaries
Javid Hassan, Arab News
RIYADH, 25 December 2007 - Expatriates continued to be the main target of burglars in Riyadh during the Eid Al-Adha holidays. At least four cars were stolen from in the Murabba district alone.One vehicle was recovered from a road behind the Ministry of Defense and Aviation in Wizarat district and the thieves in all four cases are still at large."The police somehow managed to locate my vehicle. But the battery was stolen along with SR400 that I had kept in the glove compartment," Ayaz Haider, a Pakistani executive working with a Saudi company told Arab News. He said there was a general impression among the expatriates that thieves target them rather than Saudis. The reason, he explained, was that stealing Saudis' cars could land them in trouble, especially if the car owner was well connected. Haider said besides car thefts, mobile phone snatching had also been increasing. Pedestrians should be particularly wary if they were talking on cell phones while walking. The culprits race past gullible people snatching their cell phones. Sometimes, they use force to do the dirty job, leaving the victims helpless.Haider recounted an instance in which a family that had visited a supermarket nearby for weekly shopping returned home to find their apartment burgled. They lost gold and jewelry worth SR25,000 and SR5,000 in cash.People are generally reluctant to file complaints about thefts with the police because of the hassles involved. Even this correspondent was briefly detained at the Malaz police station recently after lodging a complaint about a theft that had taken place in his neighbor's house when the latter was on vacation. The police would not let me go without the permission of the officer in-charge. This explains the reluctance on the part of the people to visit police stations with legitimate complaints.Meanwhile, community leaders including Mohammed Quaiser, president of Tanzeem Hum Hindustani (THH), and M.A. Rasool, vice chairman, Osmania University Old Boys' NRIs Association and Liaquath Ali Hashmi, general secretary (THH), yesterday held a meeting with Rajeev Shahare, deputy chief of Mission at the Indian Embassy.They brought to Shahare's attention the large number of thefts and assaults on Indian expatriates and suggested the setting up of a separate division to deal with such cases. Quaiser said the diplomat had assured them that an officer would be assigned to represent the embassy. He instructed P. Balachandran, second secretary for welfare, to look after such cases.Shahare urged those having grievances to contact the embassy helpline at 01-4884697 or 01-4881982. They could also contact Balachandran at 01-4884206.
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