Mostly empty streets of Lutyens’ Delhi allow snatchers to strike at will

Lutyens’ Delhi, apart from having a heavy deployment of police and paramilitary personnel on standby, also has 10 of the 30 Parakram (anti-terrorist vehicles) vans deployed on its streets.

With more than 2,000 police personnel deployed in Lutyens’ Delhi, the New Delhi police district is the supposedly the “most secured region” in the national capital. But, the absence of natural surveillance — the habit of people watching out for one another — has made the streets of Lutyens’ Delhi prone to snatching incidents.

In the six snatching cases in New Delhi in the last one month, four victims have been left with injuries. In only two incidents were the suspects caught immediately – both times by the public. (Photo: PTI)

The chase and robbery of a couple in Connaught Place on Friday morning is no isolated incident. It was the sixth such robbery case to be registered in the New Delhi police district in the last one month — snatchers had hitherto targeted people outside Gurdwara Bangla Sahib, near the Delhi zoo and outside a prominent private school.

On Tuesday, the wife of a policeman was left with severe injuries to her face and limbs after she resisted snatchers who targeted her gold chain outside the Delhi zoo.

Lutyens’ Delhi, apart from having a heavy deployment of police and paramilitary personnel on standby, also has 10 of the 30 Parakram (anti-terrorist vehicles) vans deployed on its streets. The other 20 are stationed across the city.

Kalpana Vishwanath, co-founder of Safetipin, an organisation that works towards the safety of women, said Lutyens’ Delhi suffers from the absence of “eyes on the streets” unlike other crowded parts of the city.

“In terms of parameters such as infrastructure and lighting, New Delhi may not be bad, but it lacks in terms of social infrastructure and usage. The absence of people, activities, restaurants and vendors in several parts of Lutyens’ Delhi make them ideal haunts of snatchers,” Vishwanath said.

This aspect of Lutyens’ Delhi was on display when motorcycle-borne men targeted the mobile phone of Aparna Mehta, the wife of Solicitor General Tushar Mehta, outside the FICCI building in Mandi House on August 18. Police had suspected that the snatchers had found ample time to stalk the woman along an isolated stretch of road before targeting her.

Rajat Mitra, a clinical psychologist, said New Delhi district suffered from “selective policing”. “In Lutyens’ zone, the police’s primary goal is to secure VIPs and important establishments and prevent terrorist attacks. Since the public’s everyday concerns do not seem to be a priority, snatchers take advantage of that fact,” Mitra said.

In the six snatching cases in New Delhi in the last one month, four victims have been left with injuries. In only two incidents were the suspects caught immediately – both times by the public.

Eish Singhal, deputy commissioner of police (New Delhi), said snatchers were mainly striking in the early hours when the police deployment is scant. “We are trying to plug that gap,” Singhal said.