Robbery stokes fear among Indian-American in New Jersey

Several Indian-American families living in the New Jersey area have been robbed of their valuables, particularly gold, since Diwali triggering fear among the community.
As many as five Indian-American families in Middlesex County have been robbed in their homes since Diwali with the latest robbery taking place last week in Old Bridge.
In each case, the gunmen pointed their weapons at victims' heads, tied the victims up and ransacked the houses, apparently looking for gold.
The police and prosecutors have not publicly linked the five home invasions, which occurred in Edison, Old Bridge and South Plainfield. But the robberies have been similar, and this area of New Jersey is home to large communities of Indian-Americans.

The latest robbery, on Saturday evening, confounded Peter Kothari, given that the festival was over. "Why is it happening now, well after?" he was quoted as saying to New York Times.
Kothari, a community activist, said that thefts from unoccupied homes had been a problem in some years but that the spree of home invasions over the last several weeks was a drastic and violent escalation of crimes apparently driven by the festival. No serious injuries have been reported.

The crimes were most certainly aimed at Indian-Americans and needed to be treated as such. "They are coming after Indian-Americans because they think they are passive people, they are not going to fight back - and most of them are well-to-do people," he said. "We will fight back."

Earlier, men of a similar description broke into four other homes in the area and tied up families and robbed them.
Indians put up traditional Diwali decorations as well as strings of electric lights in their houses and customarily bring out jewelry, money and other valuables from under lock and key. Thieves may be trying to take advantage of that, neighbors said.