Daily crimes down to nil since Sunday in Gurugram

The crime rate has nosedived in Gurugram, a city where at least 60 crimes are reported every day, with no thefts, burglaries or robberies reported since Sunday,

The crime rate has nosedived in Gurugram, a city where at least 60 crimes are reported every day, with no thefts, burglaries or robberies reported since Sunday, the day of a people’s cufew.

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Until last week, six cases of thefts, burglaries and robberies were reported, on an average, every day. However, the only cases registered since Monday pertain to that of lockdown violations, the police said.

“The biggest challenge for us was the cases of vehicle thefts and house trespass, which have come down to zero,” said police commissioner Muhammad Akil. “As people remain indoors and only few houses are locked, thieves are not getting chances to target them. Also, there is heavy police presence across the city and all vehicles are being checked, due to which vehicle and house thefts have been checked,” said Akil.

The police said they have intensified night patrolling, increased deployment on roads and added more checkpoints along borders with Delhi.

About 6,200 police personnel are deployed across the city and 1,780 of them are on night duty. Starting Wednesday, 242 personnel who were posted in Police Lines were also deployed on roads. Of these, 172 will be put on night duty to man the new check posts, 40 additional personnel will join the PCR network, with 10 more vans, and 30 others will take conduct night patrols on motorcycles.

Akil said many people returned to their hometowns before the lockdown. “We have formed teams to keep a check on the locked houses. The station house officers are also checking with neighbours and have shared their numbers so that they can be informed in case any suspicious activity,” said Akil.

He said that 20,000 cases are reported from across the district in a year and the daily average is 60 cases, which has come down to nine cases and that too, of lockdown violations.

“We have registered 27 cases under the Motor Vehicles Act in the last three days, for driving on the roads unnecessarily,” said Akil. “These are besides the 56 cases registered in the last two days for violation of rules and regulations under sections 269 (negligent act likely to spread infection of disease dangerous to life) and 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) of the Indian Penal Code. As these are temporary cases, registered due to the epidemic. We are not counting them under the same head as other crime cases,” said Akil.

The police have arrested 76 people in the 56 cases over the past two days. “We have impounded 64 vehicles, from city roads and borders, of people who were loitering around for no reason and were not part of essential services,” Akil said.

The department has cancelled the leaves of its staff and officials have been asked to work in 12-hour shifts, instead of eight hours, to ensure people remain indoors. “We have requested all residents’ welfare associations (RWAs) to control the situation and to seek help, if required, from their nearest police station,” said Akil. There will be increased communication with the RWAs, he said.