Straight Answers

<div class="section1"><div class="Normal">Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime), <span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">Dr Satya Pal Singh</span>, on the significant rise in petty crimes.<br /><br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">While the police are going after big criminals, small-time thieves seem to have a field day. According a comparative statement by the Crime Branch, except for August, there has been a significant rise in petty thefts in the last six months.</span><br /><br />Yes, I am aware of the situation.But it is not alarming and the public should not panic. However, the major rise is in cases of chain-snatching and housebreaking. One of the major reasons for this is the huge labour migration to Mumbai because of largescale construction activities. These people sleep on the roadside and some of them indulge in theft.<br /><br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">However, the crime detection rate has not gone up. In June, 524 thefts were registered, of which only 97 were detected. In July, of the 622 cases, only 120 were detected. October’s figures show that of 507 cases, only 114 were detected.</span><br /><br />Since the Crime Branch is busy tackling terrorists and other major security threats, it is up to zonal police stations to keep a check on petty crimes.<br /><br /><span style="" font-weight:="" bold="">What is your plan to contain these crimes?</span><br /><br />I have instructed all police stations to give me details of those arrested as well as the accused in such crimes. I am putting their details, including their pictures and brief backgrounders, on CDs and sending them to all additional commissioners of police. They will report to me about the action taken against these people. The move is to have a clear picture of such hooligans and make it easy for the local police to track them down instead of searching endlessly.</div> </div>