Agra, May 9 (IANS) With half a dozen burglaries, road holdups and chain snatchings in the last few days, the crime rate in Agra has suddenly taken an alarming trend.

Thursday night in the posh colony of Kamla Nagar, a businessman's house was burgled. The family members had gone out when the robbers struck, escaping with jewellery and household items worth Rs.1 million. The family was preparing for the marriage of a daughter and had kept the valuables at home.

In another incident, a gang on motorbikes looted a potato commission agent in broad daylight behind the Red Fort. The victim, Rajendra Singh, had withdrawn Rs.55,000 from a bank and was returning with his mother when he was attacked and the cash looted.

In a Sandha village two houses were burgled by a gang.

In the last couple of days, there have been more than half a dozen cases of looting. In fact the law and order situation in the whole Agra division has taken on an alarming dimension.

In Shikohabad, a cloth merchant was shot while another was abducted in Firozabad. A few days ago, the nephew of a Bharatiya Janata Party legislator was attacked and two women of the house were dragged on the road before they were robbed of their valuables.

Agra recently got a new post of Inspector General of police to improve the law and order situation.