Robbery goes kaput
Weird things a robber would get into these days.
Fathom the idea of being robbed without knowing that you are being robbed.
Read on.
A man, perhaps a vicenarian, shows up at a house in Lawsohtun, Block-III, where one can get rental utensils for parties and other events.
The man, who claimed to be a resident of the locality, enquired about the utensils and their per day rates from the rental store owner. He subsequently took with him quite a number of things on rent, which, according to him, were required for a party.
Now, the utensils were supposed to be returned to the owner the next day along with the rent. But instead something bizarre happens.
The owner receives a call from the Rangbah Dong who asks her if she has been robbed lately.
Calmly she replies: “No, I have not”. She adds, “But a man hired some utensils from me today”.
The Rangbah Dong then says, “Kong, your things are on sale at Iewduh”.
Taken aback, she asks him, “How?”
She then learns that the man was caught selling the utensils hired from her in Iewduh for Rs 2,000.
The man was apparently caught after police noticed something peculiar with his modus operandi.
The lady eventually got back her things.
“As only people from the locality come to hire things, I did not bother to go deep into inquiring about the identity of the man,” the shop owner, who has been renting utensils to locals for over 10-12 years, said.
“He was wearing a mask, I could not recognise his face,” she added.
Needless to say, living amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, it sure is bothersome to recognise people’s faces with masks on. “I have been renting things to several people in the locality and nothing like this had happened in the past. I have learned a lesson,” she sighed.
About the robber, it was learned that he was not a resident of Lawsohtun. Instead, he has been in the watch list of the police and is notorious for committing similar style of robberies in other parts of the city.
The other side of normalcy
Shillong seems to be continuing to limp back to normalcy after reeling under COVID-19-induced strictures for months.
But in the process, the traffic scenario here, which has always been in a sorry state, has started resurfacing, once again corroborating the dearth of basic amenities in Shillong.
During most days of the week, many parts of the city witnessed traffic congestion with a superfluity of vehicles moving at a snail’s pace. The vehicles were not only seen on the city roads but were also found haphazardly parked at most available spaces.
As for the past several years, while no parking facility has come up in Shillong, the number of vehicles, however, has continued to see a dramatic rise.
The night-time here has been no different at all.
Vehicles, owing to the dearth of adequate parking facilities, are seen parked on the roadside almost every night.
A government official has, however, said that construction of parking space is on the cards under the Smart Shillong City project.
A glance on the website of the Shillong Smart City Limited reveals that under the initiative, construction of multi-level parking projects, amounting to Rs 183 crore, is likely at Secretariat Hills, Motphran junction, near Polo junction and either near Barik or Khyndai Lad.
Food from across the street
Street vendors at Khyndai Lad are now doing some, if not brisk, business as the COVID-19 situation is not entirely improved. With the venue bustling with activity of late, the street food section (as seen in the picture) has again come alive with many takers!
The other day, opposite the food stalls alongside the road near Muda parking lot, folks were seen on the pavement eating street food that they bought from the vendors across the street.
Asked, it was learned that the public was told to stand on the opposite side of the road and enjoy their food so as to prevent any gathering near the stalls.
Every individual that bought something to eat would walk some steps away and munch on the street food.
One of the vendors explained to the SJ team that this was mandated by the officials of the district administration.