Crawley’s Hindu community is becoming worried for their safety as another home was targeted by thieves for gold.
A house in Colonsay Road, Broadfield, was broken into and a large quantity of gold and cash was stolen Between 7.45am and 2.30pm on Wednesday (June 24).
Thieves also carried out an untidy search of all the bedrooms and downstairs cupboard.
The burglary is the latest in a spate of gold thefts from the Asian community over the past year. The last one was in February.
Since then, police have given out more than 1,000 Selectamark DNA kits for people to mark their property and given advice to help prevent thefts.
However, Bharat Lukka, trustee of the Gurjar Hindu Union, felt more still needed to be done.
He said: “More and more older people who use the day centres are going to be deterred from going out.
“We are putting more pressure on the police. We’re living in the 21st century and homes are being targeted and it’s during the day. People are upstairs while they burgle downstairs.
“We’re grateful there have been no violent attacks. That’s the next worry people have.
“All the police seem to be doing it giving stickers out and telling people to be vigilant. We want more police patrols in areas that have been targeted on foot or car.”
Ch Insp Justina Beeken said: “We’re very aware of how much distress burglaries of this nature can cause and have done, and will continue, to do everything we can to prevent these offences.
“I am determined that the offenders will be caught and brought to justice and this will remain the key policing priority in Crawley.
“We have gone out into the community to talk to people who have been affected and those who have concerns and have been giving advice about how they can try and protect their property and keep it safe from potential thieves.”
She added that she believed the DNA kits had helped. “[The kits] have had a huge impact on giving thieves a message to stay away. These kits and my teams working in the Asian communities affected have provided a hostile environment for thieves thinking about targeting our town. I continue to urge anyone with information or saw anything suspicious in the area to contact police on 101 quoting Operation Minnesota.”