Police slammed as burglars continue to target Indian families for gold in Milton Keynes

Police have been accused of failing to acknowledge a worrying spate of burglaries from members of the Indian community seemingly targeted for their gold.
Burglars have been targeting Indian families for their valuable gold in Milton KeynesBurglars have been targeting Indian families for their valuable gold in Milton Keynes
Burglars have been targeting Indian families for their valuable gold in Milton Keynes

In just one month there has been eight burglaries of Indian households in the Tattenhoe ward alone.

This brings the tally up to 24 such break-ins over the past year. And in almost every case tens of thousands of pounds worth of Asian gold has been stolen along with ipads, laptops and cameras.

But police and MK Council were both “in denial” at first, stating the overall rate of burglaries in Milton Keynes had not increased, claims Conservative ward councillor Edith Bald.

Eventually it took the residents themselves, backed by Indian councillor, Geetha Morla, to go to the Safer MK board and highlight the problem.

Even MP Iain Stewart intervened to urge the police to step up their action.

As a result, a meeting was held last week between police, council officials, councillors and members of the Indian community.

“The police now accept that the Indian community is being targeted and said they believed the perpetrators were coming from outside the area,” said councillor Bald, who is urging police to find solutions that respect the culture of the targeted community.

She added: “The national trend and the overall burglary rate in MK is not the important thing here. What is important is the rate of burglaries my residents from the Indian community are suffering. They are living in fear wondering if their house is going to be the next target.”

Councillor Morla, herself a member of the Indian community, said: “At last I feel that something will be done.”

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