Over the last week, a few residents of VM Chatram and Arokya Nagar in Tamil Nadu's Tirunelveli city, noticed strange patterns drawn with oil on the gates of their houses. Residents of these areas which are scarcely populated, approached the police with images of these symbols, suspecting foul play and much to their distress, found that they were right.
The symbols which were found in six houses in the area, according to the police, are signals used by thieves to indicate the nature of people in the house, whether there was anything valuable to be stolen and if it was safe to conduct a burglary in the marked house. The areas carrying these symbols are newly developed and are an extension to Tirunelveli city.
Speaking to TNM, Deputy Superintendent of Police Saravanan says that they initially suspected that the marks could be left by local security guards to mark houses that were yet to pay them. But this angle was soon dismissed as there were no security guards.
"This area is such that the population is very low and several houses remain empty, with people visiting only on the weekends. So we suspected it could be the work of thieves and began examining the houses further," he says. "There is actually no fixed meaning for the marks but upon doing some research we found that pan India and internationally these marks were being used by thieves to set their targets for burglaries and crimes. We are suspecting that this is the work of criminals but we cannot be completely sure. We are, however, taking the necessary precautions since the residents are scared," he adds.
The two areas together, according to the DSP, have close to 150 houses. Residents have now been told by the police to install CCTV cameras in their properties to allow monitoring of people coming and going into the locality. Police have further increased patrolling in the area during the nights and local officials have been sensitised to possible dangers there.
"We have taken necessary precautions and so far there have been no instances of crime. These areas come under the Perumalpuram police limit," says the DSP.
This is the second time such symbols are appearing in Tirunelveli city but upon investigation, the police found that the mark was being left by security guards.
"But these marks are very different from what we have seen earlier," says the DSP.
In 2016, the Kerala police had warned residents about these symbols and informed people that drawing them on houses was part of the modus operandi for thieves who are planning a robbery. The Pathanamthitta district police had stated that the symbols mean that the house is under observation for a robbery and that the mark should be wiped off immediately.