Mumbai: Top brass forces DCPs to report every chain snatching incident

Illustration Ravi JadhavMumbai is witnessing a dramatic fall in the street crime ever since the top brass of Mumbai Police made all Deputy Commissioners of Police DCP answerable for every single chainsnatching incident in their zone The initiative has already borne fruitAlso read Chainsnatchers caught after getaway vehicle turns turtle in VakolaCompared to last year 2017 has registered a considerable dip in such crimesIn January this year only 14 incidents were reported out of which seven were detected Compare this to last January when the city recorded 67 casesSwing in 4 yearsBefore this chainsnatchings had become a nuisance for the public as well as the police The peak period for this crime was during morning walks weekends festivals and the wedding seasonJust four years ago in 2013 as many as 2090 cases were reported in the city While this number has consistently fallen over the following years the figures were still not up to the expectations of the top brassLast year Mumbai Police issued an order to all 12 zonal DCPs to take chainsnatching seriously and implement an antichain snatching drive every dayDue to this drive and regular patrolling the number of incidents reduced by half in 2016 compared to the previous year and the detection rate also improved said a senior officerBut chainsnatching continued on busy streets as well as in secluded areasTightening screwsDespite a wide CCTV surveillance network and regular patrolling the crime rate had still not dropped satisfactorily So at the end of 2016 the top cops issued strict instructions to all the DCPs to personally go to the crime scene every time a chainsnatching incident was reported and explain to their superior how the crime took placeThe DCPs also have to take action against the staff concerned who were given the responsibility of conducting antichainsnatching drives in that area This has put all the DCPs on their toes so they have asked all the police stations be more alert revealed a copTop priority Top copDeven Bharti Joint Commissioner of Police Law and Order told midday Chain snatching is a crime in which not only is the victims property stolen but even his or her trust in the police is shaken So we have made chainsnatching a top priority and are treating it with zero toleranceAnother officer added Checking bike riders detaining the suspicious ones and informing their parents has all led to a fall in snatching incidents One can always see nakabandi in Mumbai through the day at different places This has also reduced the number of incidents