The Hindu : Uphill task of tracking robber gangs

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Jun 22, 2002

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Uphill task of tracking robber gangs

By Prashant Pandey

A spate of robberies, capped by a daring bank hold-up, during the past fortnight has rattled the North-West Delhi police. Such a scenario is, however, not unique to the area nor has this been uncommon in other parts of the Capital at different times. It appears that sticking to the basics of policing, coupled with knowledge of area-specific problems, are most likely to help the police in checking the menace.

To begin with, a gang bearing striking similarity to the dreaded "kaccha baniyan'' group, unnerved the South-West and North Delhi police by committing a series of robberies in which the victims were beaten up badly. Prior to that, robberies in moving buses had created problems for the South Delhi police.

The South Delhi police did manage to smash a couple of gangs in this respect. The fact that they operated in a smaller area and adopted quite a familiar modus operandi helped the police. In the case of Southwest and North Delhi, the police had to deal with a larger area and lack of intelligence in the interior regions.

Police officials point out that intelligence gathering gets to be complicated as a huge chunk of the population in these areas is migratory by nature. "Keeping track of people coming in and leaving the place becomes difficult, let alone gathering intelligence about the movement of criminal elements'', an officer said. Moreover, in areas like Azadpur Subzi Mandi, thousands of trucks and people come in and leave by evening, making it extremely difficult to identify the criminal elements.

Another reason attributed to the increase in crime is that the districts share a highly porous border with Haryana and Uttar Pradesh.

Police officials point out that some areas like Rohini are still developing and hence attract construction workers and criminals alike. This is the main reason for the lack of a proper security system. In settled colonies like Saraswati Vihar - where dacoits struck thrice in quick succession -problems are created by resettlement colonies in the vicinity.

This is not say that area-specific problems do not exist in other parts of the city. For instance, the trans-Yamuna area faces the problem of criminals crossing over from Uttar Pradesh and taking shelter. They have also been found to supply information to their accomplices who come to the Capital, commit the crime and flee. At one point, the North-East Delhi police had to be provided protective gear to patrol sensitive areas.

The measures suggested to deal with the menace are simple: Intensified day and night patrolling, setting up of extra pickets and, of course, nabbing the gangs. "Increased visibility of the police acts as a deterrent to criminals and also gives a sense of security to the people,'' said a police officer.

Also, the police need to keep track of criminals who are released from jail. "They tend to regroup with their accomplices and resume criminal activities. They also form new gangs and adopt an entirely new modus operandi,'' said an officer.

The problems pointed out by police officials relating to incidents of the past few months are not new. The borders, migratory population and far-flung areas have been with us for a long time.

Devising effective ways of dealing with such situations would be the only way out. They may be simple and involve people affected by the crime in participatory policing. A beginning could be made by ensuring that banks, like the one in Azadpur Mandi where the robbers struck in broad daylight, keep regular and trained security guards.

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