11 February,2009 09:52 AM IST | | Nupur Singh, Bipin Kumar Singh
Delhiites are taking unclaimed objects more seriously. Calls to the police have gone up and many cases worked out on the basis of information from the public
Even as the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks took terrorism to a new level, it infused a never-before-seen awareness among people to respond to such disruptive activities.
Delhiites are no more blithe when they find something fishy around them. They instantly respond to anything unusual they witness while going aboutu00a0 their day-to-day life.
In fact, security agencies admit that people are taking the warning signs very seriously and readily cooperate with them.
"No doubt, citizens have become more responsible after the Mumbai carnage," said Rajan Bhagat, public relations officer of the Delhi Police.
According to the Delhi police records, they have solved around 167 criminal cases through their 'eyes and ear campaign'. During the drive the cops have asked all the shopkeepers, hawkers, rag-pickers and locals to keep an eye on any suspicious activity or material in their areas.u00a0
Like the Delhi police, the Indian Railways, too, confirmed that the citizens are now cooperating with a renewed vigour to help them track down the looming terror threat.
"People now don't fuss about the anti-terror drills we conduct," said Rajeev Saxena, chief public relationship officer of Indian Railways.
The Delhi Metro had a similar story to tell, when MiD DAY contacted them. "People are more aware and responsible," said Anuj Dayal, public relationship officer, Delhi Metro. "We receive around two to three calls per month about unattended luggage."
The ragpickers have also joined the anti-terror efforts. "We do our best to inform any sensitive movement to the police," said Shekhar, who was once a ragpicker and now a guide of a city walk programme run by an NGO, Salam Balak Trust.
"We educate these kids to report any suspicious movement or material to the police," said a trust member.
Cyber cafu00e9 owners are also strictly following the guidelines provided by the police. Owner of a cyber cafu00e9, Vertex Computers, at West Patel Nagar, said: "We strictly follow the police guidelines. We don't allow any one to access the Internet without identity proof."
