Two unidentified men barged into the premises of Holy Child Auxilium school in Vasant Vihar area and decamped with Rs12,000 cash after breaking the door to the principal’s office, police said on Friday. The school administration suspects an insider’s role into the break-in. Principal of the school Sister lucy John said it appears to be an insider’s job. Delhi Police Commissioner BS Bassi, who was summoned by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, said: “It is a case of burglary but we are investigating the case from all possible angles.”
The burglary was spotted by a female staffer of the school around 8 am on Friday. She was aghast to find a wooden door of the principal’s office broken and ajar. She, in turn, immediately informed the school principal and other staff members. A call was made to the police control room and the local police officials reached the school premises. The school, which is up to Class XII, was closed down by the principal as the premises of the school administration were taken over by the South district police for investigation. Many students who came to school were turned back after they were told there would be no classes on Friday.
The incident was captured on CCTV cameras installed at the gate. Two men in balaclavas were seen entering the school premises around 3.30 am. However, six CCTV cameras installed in the school were on the blink as the men had snapped the cord connecting the cameras with the recording device, police official said.
They broke the door with the help of a heavy object and entered the principal’s chamber. “In search of valuables and cash, they also broke a cupboard. A showpiece in glass was also found wrecked,” a police official said. “They managed to run away with Rs12,000 kept in the drawer of a cabinet,” the officer added. Police said a case of burglary has been registered at Vasant Vihar police station. They questioned several staff members of the school.
School principal Sister lucy John, ruling out vandalism, said: “Some insider’s role is suspected. No vandalism took place but a few things have been broken.” She also said money, which was stolen, was collected from students to donate to the needy. Human Resource Development Minister Smriti Irani, who is an ex-student, also visited the school and met the principal. “We can’t rule out the possibility of some conspiracy behind the incident but it seems a case of theft,” Delhi Catholic Archdiocese spokesperson Father Savarimuthu Sankar told The Pioneer.
Sankar claimed that the attack sent a clear message that a group is trying to “fill fear” among the Christian community. He said that five churches have been attacked since December 2014 and this is the sixth such attack. leaders of the Christian community said some members of a group have been intentionally targeting the community and this is the sixth such attack within 11 weeks.