2016 witnessed a spurt in the incidents of street crime in the national Capital. In comparison to the cases of heinous crimes such as murder and dacoity reported in 2016, cases of motor vehicle theft and burglary, followed by cases of snatching, which dominated the crime scene.

Street Crime at a glance

SNATCHING

As per the latest Delhi Police records, in 2015,  from January 1 till December 31, 9347 cases of snatching were reported while in 2016 from January 1 till December 11, 9,094 cases of snatching were reported in the city.

Out of the 9,094 cases of snatching reported across various police stations, maximum cases of snatching were reported in the Prashant Vihar police station (237), followed by Hari Nagar police station (190).

 Although there has been a decline in the number of snatching cases reported in the year 2016, street crime turned into a more organised sector in the ambit of a larger criminal scenario.

GANGS OF Delhi

 Right from the thak thak gang that struck at various locations in Delhi to the women thief gang in the Delhi Metro, criminal gangs made headlines for stealing cash bag, jewellery  and mobile phones to name a few items.

According to a senior Delhi Police official, with the prevalence of the gangs such as thak thak and puncture gang, whose modus operandi is to divert the attention of the victim by placing money in front of their vehicle or even puncturing the vehicle of the victim, the gang over the year targeted several people especially jewelers in East Delhi and also media persons at the Bahadur Shah Zafar marg or ITO. In a recent instance, mobile phone of a mediaperson from a national daily was allegedly stolen by members of the thak thak gang.

Motor Vehicle Theft

According to the latest Delhi Police records, 30,857 cases of Motor Vehicle Theft were reported in 2015 whereas in 2016, during the same period, from January 1 till December 11, 36,137 cases of MV theft were reported. This indicates that every day, 21 cases of vehicle theft were reported in the capital. In September, the Delhi Police had busted a gang of auto lifters with the arrest of five persons and recovered as many as 36 cars.

According to police records, 2016 witnessed a spurt in cases of Motor Vehicle Theft which was 17.11 per cent. Highest number of cases reported in Delhi was that of MV theft followed by burglary.

BURGlARY

As per the latest Delhi Police records, 12,310 cases of burglary were reported in 2015 while in 2016, 13,316 cases have been reported. Out of which, 2,218 cases have been worked out. out of the total number of cases registered with the police, merely 16.66 per cent cases have been solved.