Cracking down on crime: How special operations help police curb crimes in Mumbai

Highranking Mumbai Police officers on the ground overnight citywide operations and stellar investigators collaborating with officials to apprehend suspects at regular intervals are a few of the vigilant measures taken by the Mumbai Police in their ongoing battle against crime in the cityIn midAugust Mumbai Police conducted their special operation called the All Out Operation and in a sweeping crackdown on criminal activities on the night of August 12 which continued until the early hours of August 13 involved a coordinated effort by law enforcement agencies across the city Key police officials including Additional Commissioners of Police Deputy Police Commissioners Divisional Assistant Commissioners and Senior Police Inspectors were involved in this massive endeavour to maintain law and orderThe special All Out Operation was undertaken in the city under the guidance of top Mumbai Police officials an official saidCrackdown on criminal activitiesDuring the operation examination of 1640 individuals with prior criminal records was done Of these 355 individuals were allegedly found to be involved in various crimes leading to preventive actions being taken against themThis helps in preventing those with criminal intentions from committing crimes in the city the official addedHe said that a dedicated focus on addressing theftrelated crimes led to the investigation of 350 accused individuals with preventive actions taken against 62 of them based on the merit of the cases Prohibited activities were also targeted resulting in the investigation of 46 accused individuals and their subsequent arrests Furthermore the operation targeted individuals who had been released from prison leading to the preventive action being taken against 109 such individuals A total of four individuals were searched and arrested during this processAlso read Meet Baby Patankar the drug queen behind Mumbais street dope Meow MeowWhy special operations are importantRetired IPS officer PK Jain while speaking to middaycom said when such campaigns are conducted over smaller areas like one or two police station or one division or zone criminals generally take the benefit of nakabandi being conducted in one area and escape to another area but when the concerted action is taken by all police stations in a city or district the criminals find it difficult to slip from one area to another areaHe said another advantage is that all the policemen and officers in a particular police station are briefed about the known criminals bad elements trouble mongers etc in the area so that whenever they are on general and routine duty and night rounds they can keep looking for such elements and keep a watch on their activitiesJain further said Such special campaigns are launched to produce meaningful results in terms of apprehending the known trouble mongers known criminals and historysheeters The special drives are started from different perspectives one is criminalcentric second is law and order centric before any special festival occasion and thirdly it is traffic centric etcAlso read Visiting Arunachal Pradesh Follow this food and travel guide by locals while you are in the northeast Indian stateA police official not wishing to be named said that the special operation also focuses on maintaining public safety He said for instance in the last all out operation the Mumbai Police officials also inspected 933 establishments including hotels lodges and musafirkhanas in order to prevent illegal residents Additionally 605 sensitive locations were searched across Mumbai The operation resulted in the issuance of 79 nonbailable warrantsHe said the crackdown on illegal weapons yielded significant results with 30 cases registered and 30 individuals arrested while a total of 30 illegal weapons were seizedThe operation also extended to addressing public disturbances as 73 individuals suspected of violating Sections 120 and 122 of the Maharashtra Police Act were identified and dealt with accordingly In addition 20 illegal businesses were raided and shut down contributing to the overall public safety efforts Additionally a thorough investigation led to the registration of 101 cases under the AntiNarcotics Act NDPS ACT resulting in the arrest of 101 suspectsJain explained that the idea is to galvanise the police force and make them work towards a common objective at one point of time so that the energy and the synergy of the entire police force is directed towards achieving a given objective This also causes healthy competition among different subunits Apprehending criminals of a particular class and category in quick short campaignsJain further told midday The daily pressures on the police station staff is so heavy that the general routine police functions are somewhere lost sight of Therefore because of such campaigns the police are given a very limited specific objective and are galvanised into action for short stintsCrackdown on traffic violatorsAs per the records during last months all out operation a staggering 7768 twowheeler and fourwheeler vehicles were inspected during organised nakabandis in parts of the city Moreover 2515 motorists were penalised under the Motor Vehicle ActAnti drugs driveIn a major operation to eradicate the drug menace in the city the Mumbai Police had on September 12 initiated a targeted operation against drug peddling and abuse on Tuesday on the similar lines of the all out operation sources saidThe comprehensive effort involved the Regional Additional Commissioners of Police in the city 13 Zonal Deputy Commissioners of Police along with all Divisional Assistant Police Commissioners and various police officials from across the city uniting their forces against this pressing issue as per a police officialDuring the extensive 24hour special drive carried out a total of 328 individuals were screened resulting in the apprehension of seven suspects the police confirmedThroughout the operation the police recorded four cases detailing the confiscation of mephedrone in two instances a combination of cocaine and mephedrone in another case and ganja in a separate case as reported on WednesdayOn September 12 the police registered four cases In one of these cases a foreign national was arrested with cocaine and mephedrone also known as MD in the Malwani area of Mumbai In other cases in Deonar and Dharavi MD was seized by the police said an official