E-Paper
Heavy police presence on ground forces criminals to retreat in city
Amid the lockdown to prevent the spread of Covid-19, the city saw 94 cases of crimes registered last week (March 23 to 29), drop from the average of 434 cases registered
Amid the lockdown to prevent the spread of Covid-19, the city saw 94 cases of crimes registered last week (March 23 to 29), drop from the average of 434 cases registered per week in 2019. A total of 20,867 FIRs were filed in 2019, 1,821 in January and 1,736 in February this year
The first week of March (March 2 to March 8) saw 320 crimes, second week (March 9 to March 15) saw 352 and 332 cases were reported in the third week (March 16 to March 22). “The crime rate was bound to come down. We are concentrating on ensuring smooth supply of essential services and preventing hoarding of essential material such as food, sanitisers and masks,” said Santosh Rastogi, joint commissioner, crime, Mumbai Police.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a janta curfew on March 22, barring movement of citizens, which was followed by a lockdown in the state on March 23 and nationwide lockdown on March 24. This, police officials say, stopped the movement of criminals from other districts and states.
Of the 94 cases registered from March 23 to March 29, 43 have been solved; 38 of them were related to assault, while 20 were cases of motor vehicle thefts. The week saw one murder, where a man allegedly killed his brother in Kandivli (East), after they fought over not getting out of the house to buy groceries. Three attempt to murder, three robberies, nine thefts, two chain-snatchings, 11 burglaries, four riots and three rape cases (prior to the lockdown) were reported.
Pranaya Ashok, deputy commissioner of police, operations and spokesperson for Mumbai Police, said, “Our entire focus is ensuring an effective lockdown to prevent the further spread of COVID19.”
During the lockdown, only cases related to section 188 of IPC for violating lockdown orders and under Essential Commodities Act saw a rise. A total of 615 FIRs have been registered till March 31 against 1,167 people since March 20 for violating lockdown orders.
