Detection rate at 18%, cops struggle to nab criminals

NASHIK: The police have failed dismally in detecting burglaries taking place in the city - of the 184 house break-ins registered with the police stations until August, only 34 (18%) have been detected so far.
The police, on their part, blame the poor show on the lack of enough clues from the crime scene.
Coming to defence of the department, deputy commissioner of police (zone II) Shrikant Dhivare said the Indiranagar police recently arrested Bambaiya Nisarkhan (22), a resident of Wadala road, within 36 hours of committing a burglary."The suspect had stolen mobile phones and jewellery worth Rs 91,000 from Siddhi Residency of Indiranagar when the family was out of station."
Two more suspects, Anil Ahire and Imran Khan Nabiar, were also arrested in connection with the robbery of electronic items worth Rs 61, 259 from the godown of a courier company in Satpur, he said.
But the figures paint a different picture. According to the data available with the police, the detection percentage in 2010 was 21%, which rose marginally to 26% in 2011. But it was in 2012 and 2013 that the detection percentage really improved at 43% and 40%, respectively, only to drop again to 28% in 2014.
Even as the police have, in the past, tried to create awareness among the residents to install CCTVs and hire guards to safeguard their homes, shops and factories, such measures have not yielded results.
Senior police officials are of the opinion that taking preventive measures was the best way to control crimes where the accused is unidentified. "We have appealed time and again to the residents to keep their valuables in lockers when going out for vacations," said a police official.
He said in most cases, they were unable to gather clues from the incident spot, making it difficult to trace the suspects. "The police have to rely mainly on possible informers and criminals on record to detect and track suspects," the official added.