GHAZIABAD: Between January 1 and October 15, street crime cases have gone down by almost 64% in the district compared to the same period last year, according to data shared by Ghaziabad police.
While 29 cases of snatching and loot (including loot of jewellery, mobile phones and bags) reported this year, 90 such cases had been registered between January 1 and October 15 this year. The number of burglaries is 125 this year, while it was 591 last year. Cases of vehicle theft have also decreased this year with 1,238 reported in 2020 compared to 3,204 last year.
According to the police, more FIRs are being lodged now. “FIR registration has increased by 25 per cent compared last year. Many people are lodging complaints online. We have seen that in case of petty crimes, FIR registration has gone up by 31 per cent,” said Kalanidhi Naithani, SSP, Ghaziabad.
“If we talk about heinous crimes, like rape and murder, the numbers have gone down by 30% this year,” he added.
Although, the data shows number of street crimes has come down, in the past two days, three incidents of loot/snatching have been reported.
On Sunday, burglars targeted two houses at Sector 2C in Vasundhara and fled with valuables and cash. The area is just 40 m away from the local police chowki. Both families were out to attend a marriage function and got to know about the incident once they returned.
On Monday night, at Sector 4 in Raj Nagar, two bike-borne men snatched a mobile phone from a man, who happens to be a relative of DP Yadav, a well-known gangster. The victim has been identified as Dharmendra Yadav, DP Yadav’s nephew, and he owns a petrol pump at Crossing Republik. The area is under the jurisdiction of Kavi Nagar police.
Dharmendra said that he was on a call when the phone was snatched from him. “Two people came on a bike and took away my phone. I tried to follow the two men on my bike, which was parked 20-30 m away from the point. I went towards Sector 10 after them. There was a police check post but the snatchers were not stopped and they fled away,” he said.
“When I spoke to the policemen who were near the checkpoint, I was told to go to the nearest police chowki. I went to Sector 9 police chowki but no cop was present there. Then I dialled the police helpline and later, my complaint was lodged,” he added.
His relative DP Yadav was sentenced to life imprisonment on March 10, 2015, for the murder of Ghaziabad MLA Mahendra Bhati, about 30 years ago.
In an attempt to curb crimes, three SP (city) were appointed on October 15. While Abhishek Verma, SP (City 1), has jurisdiction of Kotwali, Vijay Nagar, Sihani Gate and Kavi Nagar police stations, Gyanendra Singh, SP (City 2) is in-charge of Indirapuram, Khoda, Sahibabad, Kaushambi and Tila Mor. Subhash Gangwar, SP (City 3) is in-charge of VIP duties and Dial 112.
Naithani said the aim is to have zero street crimes. “For this, police have conducted several meetings with Residents’ Welfare Associations (RWAs) and Vyapar Sangathans and asked them to install CCTV cameras and repair defunct ones. So far, over hundreds of new cameras have been installed and many are being repaired in areas like Kavi Nagar and Indirapuram,” he said.