6-fold rise in crimes on Delhi Metro as 200 cops manage 2.5m commuters daily

If one goes by numbers, the Delhi Metro police registers at least eight offences of various forms daily – a six-fold increase in crime on the transit network compared to last year.

A crippling staff crunch is keeping Delhi Police from conducting adequate investigations in as many as eight criminal cases registered at metro stations every day.

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If one goes by numbers, the Delhi Metro police registers at least eight offences of various forms daily – a six-fold increase in crime on the transit network compared to last year.

However, the resolution percentage of such cases has dipped drastically, as there are only 200 law enforcement personnel at the disposal of Delhi Metro police, and most of them are engaged in running the eight Metro police stations.

“You will be astonished to know that not a single recruitment, exclusively for deployment in Delhi Metro police, has been done ever since the Metro police stations came into existence,” said a senior police officer, on condition of anonymity. This despite repeated proposals to the ministry of home affairs, followed by several reminders.

According to the crime data accessed by HT, a total of 739 cases were registered by Metro police between January 1 and March 31. Of these, 684 were of theft and pickpocketing in Metro trains and stations.

In 2013, during the same period, Delhi Metro police had lodged only 133 cases, of which 95 were related to theft and pickpocketing. Delhi Metro crime figures say that out of the 739 cases registered till March this year, only 52 have been worked out.