Under pressure from the public and media, the Gurgaon police have stepped up patrolling around Sahara Mall. What they have failed to register is that danger lies beyond MG Road’s Mall Mile too.
Continuing with its late-night patrolling to identify unsafe spots, HT on Tuesday night set out for an inspection of the 13-km stretch between IFFCO Chowk in Gurgaon to Mehrauli in Delhi between 10pm and 3am. What it found will satisfy the cynic in all of us. MG Road was found conveniently deserted by both Delhi and Gurgaon police despite the fact that most crimes against women took place here and that this is the road criminals use to flee to Delhi.
Uneasy silence prevailed at Bristol chowk near Sikanderpur. No PCR van was in sight here.
No streetlight functioned at the nearly half-a-kilometre stretch between DLF Phase III and Guru Dronacharya Metro station. This is where hundreds of people get down to walk to their homes in DLF City till as late as beyond midnight. The Gurgaon Police apparently does not believe that dark can be dangerous. If it did, at least one PCR van would have been seen doing the roads of the area.
{{/usCountry}}No streetlight functioned at the nearly half-a-kilometre stretch between DLF Phase III and Guru Dronacharya Metro station. This is where hundreds of people get down to walk to their homes in DLF City till as late as beyond midnight. The Gurgaon Police apparently does not believe that dark can be dangerous. If it did, at least one PCR van would have been seen doing the roads of the area.
{{/usCountry}}But we did find the lone PCR van of Gurgaon police stationed at the Gurgaon-Delhi border. “We look for suspicious vehicles driving towards Delhi. Their number is huge,” said an officer.Then came the dark stretch between Dronacharya Metro station and Andheria Mod in Delhi. No PCR van was found patrolling here either. "The streetlights are never lit here," confirmed a Delhi Transport department official, out with a team to check vehicles for forged papers under the Sultanpur Metro station.
But in Delhi, we did find two Delhi Police teams stationed at Chattarpur Metro station and Aaya Nagar border. “We constantly look out for suspicious vehicles. When we find a single female employee not accompanied by a guard in an office cab late at night, we issue challans,” claimed an officer on duty.
According to Delhi Police, its beat officers are in the process of identifying such poorly lit areas and push for solutions with the civic bodies.
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