came back from the school as I was not feeling well. When I entered my house, I was shocked to see the entire house ransacked and I also spotted three children in one of the rooms. I locked the room and called the police,” Krishan told the police.

Their modus operandi was simple but effective. They would first do rounds of a colony and spot the house that remained locked during the daytime. Then they would pretend to be beggars and go from one door to another. They would scale the wall without touching the lock of the main door and gain entry in the house by breaking the locks of the inner doors with the help of specially made tools given to them by their parents. After collecting jewelry and cash, they would runaway, the gang leader informed the police.

The police worried about the rise of incidents of thefts in Gurgaon. Jaipal Singh, SHO, City Police Station, said that the gang of tiny tots had admitted its involvement in six burglaries and these children themselves had taken the police to the houses they had targeted.

Singh said the police had arrested six children in December last year. Aged between eight and 15, they were sent to Sonepat Jail. One of them, the 12-year-old gang leader who got out on bail, was arrested again. The children’s family helped them dispose of the booty.