It appears that the alleged failure of the Health and Family Welfare Department to install safety devices at primary health centres (PHCs) has become a boon for miscreants.
According to the police, a gang of unidentified thieves has been targeting PHCs across the district in the last few weeks. Recently, the gang is said to have stolen away valuables in PHCs at four villages.
Meanwhile, a LCD television, DVD player, printer and a few other electronic gadgets were reported stolen from the PHC at Kelasagere in Nagamangala on February 7. The very next day, the gang targeted the PHC at Brahmadevarahalli, near Nagamangala, and looted another PHC at Bellale, near Pandavapura on February 9. Again, on February 19, the gang barged into the PHC at Talagawadi and looted various materials, according to police sources.
The PHC at Kaliganahalli in Nagamangala taluk was also looted on January 10, 2014.
Habitual offenders or professional thieves were on the prowl. The modus operandi appears to be similar in all the cases reported so far in the district. Therefore, the Police Department suspect that it could be the handiwork of a single gang, police official in Nagamangala taluk told The Hindu .
The PHCs in Mandya lack even minimum safety measures, which is said to have made the job of miscreants easy, the official said.
H.P. Manche Gowda, District Health and Family Welfare Officer (DHO), admitted that PHCs lacked safety measures. The district has six taluk hospitals, 10 community health centres (CHC) and 115 PHCs in all the seven taluks. Of them, a majority of PHCs did not have security personnel during night, he said.
Police suspect involvement of a single gang in all theft cases
Mandya district has six taluk hospitals, 10 community and 115 primary health centres
