Despite the district police chief Nivedita Kukreti having asked the cops to intensify patrolling during the night hours in the aftermath of a number of robberies committed at places like Nehru Colony, Dalanwala and Harrawala, the people are still scared. They say that the night patrolling not being held regularly, police are leaving them to fend for themselves as far as security of their localities is concerned. They further say that despite the district police having managed to crack such robbery cases by arresting those involved it is far from allaying their fear with the night patrolling remaining erratic.
Rajiv Aggarwal, a resident of Kewal Vihar, said, “With fear stalking us, I have asked my family members not to open the door during the night hours if anyone knocks. This is because of the fact that police are not doing their duty as per the order of the district police chief. We are still feeling insecure after the night comes as no police patrolling is visible in our area,” he added.
Navin Gaur, resident of Vikaslok, echoed the same fear, saying that they are taking all the household items inside their houses, fearing that they would be stolen by the thieves.
Suman from Pulia number 6 said that he had installed CCTV camera in his house in view of increasing incidents of robbery during the late night hours. “However, we feel that this is not enough. Police must do the night patrolling regularly to instil confidence in us. Besides, we feel that community policing can also play a role in curbing crimes,” he added.
Sameer Bisht, resident of Shivlok Colony, said that police are patrolling the area in a mechanical way. “It is far from instilling confidence in the scared people,” he said.
Observers say that police must be pro-active to clamp down on robberies happening thick and fast particularly in the areas located on the outskirts of the city. “Things are far from satisfying on the ground with the instruction of the top cops not being heeded to by their subordinates,” said one of them.
Notably, to rein in robbery and other crimes, Dehradun SSP Nivedita Kukreti had strictly asked the police officers to intensify patrolling during the late night hours in their jurisdictional limits. She had also asked the senior cops to inform her about the places where night patrolling was not held as per the order. Besides, the cops had been asked to communicate among themselves in case any suspicious person was found loitering around during the late night hours. Vigorous vehicle checking drives had been stressed too. Cops had been asked to share among themselves any complaint being received on the number 100. “However, regrettably, nothing is discernible on the ground days after the district police head has passed the order,” said an observer.