Thimphu police arrested a 24-year-old man from Lhamoizingkha in Dagana for breaking into the Bhutan National Bank (BNB) office in Olakha on the night of March 2.

While the man couldn’t take anything from the bank, he is charged for burglary.

Police officials said the man, who works as a sales person, entered from the toilet window, as the office did not have security guards. “It had CCTV and the footages helped in identifying the suspect,” an official said.

Burglary, sources say, is one of the most reported crimes in the capital.

In 2018 alone, 154 burglary cases were reported of which the highest is in Changzamtok-Olakha area followed by Norzin Lam.

While the 24-year-old man’s case would be graded a fourth-degree felony, as he couldn’t take anything, the sentencing in burglary cases is mostly value-based.

The grading of the sentencing gets enhanced when it is a repeat offence.

It was learnt that there are many cases where it is the same people committing the crime of burglary.

A man was recently detained for breaking into a shop and storing the edibles inside a pavement in the heart of the town.

Sources say he is a repeat offender and he told police that it is much better when detained, as he doesn’t have to worry about food and shelter.

The case has been forwarded to the Office of the Attorney General.

Sources said people who commit burglary have either become habitual or they commit the crime because of poverty. “Sometimes, it is women carrying children shoplifting edibles,” an official said.

Staff reporter

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