Bidhannagar police said that they have conducted combing operations at Salt Lake and adjacent areas, including Lake Town, Baguihati and Sribhumi. “No one has been arrested so far. But we have detained some people for interrogation,” said a senior police officer of Bidhannagar (North) police station.

Locals maintained that after the construction of footbridges on Kestapur canal, cases of robbery have increased in Salt Lake. “It’s easy for miscreants to cross the canal, commit robbery and flee through the footbridges,” said Tapu Saha, a resident of GD Block, Salt Lake.

He added that through the footbridges, miscreants coming from Lake Town and Dakshin Dari, can easily reach residential areas in Salt Lake.

Basudeb Aich, Secretary, Bidhannagar Welfare Association, said: “The only way to control this menace is to increase police patrolling in the area. Policemen should be present at every crossing.”

“During the tenure of Praveen Kumar as SP, incidents of thefts had come down in the area. Then the policemen used to hold meetings with residents and accordingly design police patrols. But with the arrival of the new SP, Supratim Sarkar, that practice has been stopped causing a sudden spurt in robberies in Salt Lake,” said Ashesh Mukherjee, Councilor of ward number 5 of Bidhannagar Municipality.