New Delhi, July 05 : While there has been a surge in cases of snatching, extortion and motorvehicle theft, Delhi has registered a decline in cases of
cognizable offence during the first half of this year. “The IPC crimes per one lakh population have dropped from 372 in 1991 to 264 in 2009. Last year’s figure was 287. This is an all-time low in the history of Delhi,” claimed Delhi Police commissioner Y S Dadwal.
According to Dadwal, in the first six months this year, cases of IPC crimes have declined to 23,365 as against 24,089 during the corresponding period last year. “There was a drop in heinous offences to 968 from 1,046 last year,” Dadwal added.
However, non-heinous offences like snatching, motorvehicle theft and extortion have risen compared to the first six months last year. Extortion cases registered a sharp rise of 71.79% from 826 in 2008 to 1,419 in 2009. Only 33.62% such cases were solved this year compared to 60.41% last year. Similarly, cases of snatchings and motorvehicle theft have also gone up. More than 90% of the snatchings took place on roads, indicating that the city roads and lanes were not safe. Sixty-nine per cent of robberies also took place on the streets, added an officer.
Meanwhile, statistics show that in the past eight years, 50% cases in which the stringent MCOCA was slapped against criminals were registered in the first six months this year.
The Delhi Police also plans to introduce digitalization of police station records. “The task will be mammoth as some police stations were built in 1850. We will try to computerise the entire record system of the police stations,” added a police officer.
The commissioner also claimed that recent drives like two-wheeler verification and servant/tenant verification have helped them control crime. “We have verified more than two lakh two-wheelers in the capital and there has been a 60% drop in robbery cases using motorcycles,” claimed Dadwal.
The Delhi Police also claimed there had been a 27.05% decline in cases of fatal accidents involving Blueline buses. “PCR vans played a vital role acting as the common man’s ambulance and helping more than 21,700 persons. There was a 55% rise in the number of PCR calls received during the first half of the year,” added Dadwal.
—Agencies