Tie up family, rob the house.
By The American Bazaar Staff
WASHINGTON, DC: The rash of home invasions of Indian American households in Middlesex County, New Jersey, continues unabated, as a fifth family was terrorized by three masked and armed robbers, tied up, and the home robbed, this past weekend.
Police in Old Bridge said a group of men entered a home there, restrained family members and stole cash and jewelry on Saturday night, reported CBS.
“They duct taped our hands and legs and they dragged us, literally on the floor one by one,” one of the victims, who didn’t want her name revealed, told CBS2’s Matt Kozar.
The woman said she didn’t want to reveal her name because she’s still scared of the three masked and armed men who forced their way into her house. She said they rang the doorbell and her husband thought they might be delivery men.
“I was praying to God, take whatever you want and get out of our house,” she said.
The victim said the men ransacked the house as one gunman stood guard over the family, which included her parents and her 4- and 6-year-old children.
“They asked us to take off the gold. The rings and necklace and whatever we were wearing,” she said.
This has been the fifth home invasion in the county over the last several weeks in which South Asian-Indian families have been victimized, Middlesex County Prosecutor Andrew C. Carey said.
On October 30, Rajesh Singh said three armed masked men forced their way into his home on Netherwood Circle in Edison as his wife took out the trash just before midnight.
He said the intruders then bound Singh, his wife and their kids with duct tape and put them out on the kitchen floor. The trio then ransacked the home, taking jewelry, cash and other items, Singh said.
Two other similar home invasions were committed in Old Bridge and one in South Plainfield, CBS and the Associated Press reported.
The prosecutor’s office, the FBI, the State Police, and local departments in Old Bridge, South Plainfield and Edison are investigating the rash of home invasions, which have put the local Asian-Indian community on edge, reported The Star-Ledger.
Satish Poondi, the legal adviser for the Iselin-based Indian Business Association, was quoted as saying that the group is focusing on educating people on keeping their homes and possessions safe.
“On behalf of our organization, we still have the utmost confidence and full faith in the prosecutor’s office and the local law enforcement with respect to the job that they’re doing,” Poondi said. “Certainly, it’s unfortunate. We need to catch these people. We’re confident that the law enforcement is up to that task and they’re putting all their resources behind catching these criminals.”
Peter Kothari, a local activist in the Indian community, said that patience is wearing thin.
“We are scared,” Kothari said. “People in power don’t understand. I’m lucky I’m not a victim like that. I know that if I have to pass one minute with a gun on my head, how would I feel?”
Kothari said he’s working on organizing a protest or a news conference to bring attention to the community’s concerns. Despite the nearly month-long lull between invasions, Kothari said he was never entirely at ease about the chance that it could happen again.
“It’s going to happen, naturally,” Kothari said. “Once they run out of the money they will go out and do it. Somebody at some point is going to get hurt.”
3 Comments
but no not really.
thanks!:))
What goes around comes around job robbers.