MUMBAI: What is the extent of loss of property to theft in the city? It turns out that from 2017 to 2019, valuables and cash worth Rs 395 crore were stolen, of which the city police could recover about Rs 121 crore.
As per latest data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) for three years till last year, 34 cases of theft, burglary, robbery and dacoity are registered in Mumbai on an average in a single day, of which theft cases comprise 80% of the total. The respective cumulative figures are 37,713 (all property stealing cases) and 27,500 (theft of everything from motor vehicles to electronic gadgets).
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The rate of recovery in Mumbai is probably only a shade better than the average rate of conviction for theft and burglary. If police are unable to trace goods stolen in more than half the cases registered in the city, it does reflect poorly on the law enforcement machinery. On the other hand,if states such as Tamil Nadu have very high success rates in comparison, it may be a good idea to borrow some of their ideas for implementation.
Investigators say that it is difficult to recover stolen property as thieves usually splurge the proceeds of crime. And in the case of vehicle thefts, if a stolen vehicle is not recovered within an hour, recovery becomes almost impossible because it is either dismantled and the parts sold separately, or else it is taken beyond city limits for eventual sale in other states after a change in registration number and other details.
According to the NCRB report, the recovery rate of stolen property in Mumbai is almost 31%, which is much better than the state average of 13.7% and also the national average of about 26%. Maharashtra, along with Delhi
(10.3%), has among the poorest rates in the country, with only Mizoram (7.3%) with a worse record. The state with the best record in this respect is Tamil Nadu: its recovery rate of 77.8% is three times the national average. Telangana, Uttarakhand and Rajasthan too have a much healthier record than the national average, with each having over a 50% recovery rate.
Former IPS officer D Sivanandhan said the dependence on the police for recovery should go: “Abroad, police only register a case and issue acknowledgement so that the complainant can claim insurance. There is no liability or pressure on them for recovery. We should not judge police efficiency based on numbers.”
Former IPS officer SPS Yadav said that whenever a large amount is involved in housebreaking cases, the investigation should be closely supervised by senior officers to ensure recovery of property.