As the year nears its end, Delhi Police top brass feel that the force performed its duties and came out trumps against criminals and gangsters despite the city registering more than double the First Information Reports (FIRs) under various heads than the previous year.
The spurt in crime rate has been unprecedented with Delhi Police Commissioner BS Bassi attributing it to the policy of ‘free and fair registration’. Bassi called it “truthful registration” of crime and that women were more confident than ever to get their perpetrators booked.
The crime figures paint a gloomy picture as crime recorded in the city almost doubled than what it was last year. According to Delhi Police data, the force registered a total of 1,39,773 cases under various sections of IPC till November 15 of the current year. The same figure stood at 69,298 cases in the corresponding period last year. Till November 15 of this year, a total of 1,985 cases of rape and 4,004 of molestation were registered. In 2013, a total 73,958 IPC cases were registered out of which 1,559 were rapes while 3,347 cases were of molestation.
Spectre of the horrendous gangrape of a 23 year paramedic in a moving bus still looms large and the security of women has been the bane of Delhi Police ever since that dark night of December 16, 2012. The rape of a 27-year-old woman executive by a Uber cabbie stirred the conscience of the city. Delhi Police was quick to arrest the 32-year-old accused Shiv Kumar Yadav. However, the rape has once more raised the security of women travelling at night in the national Capital.
The case of Sunanda Pushkar, wife of former Union Minister Shashi Tharoor, who was found dead at a five-star hotel on January 17 remains the biggest mystery of the year with conspiracy theories flying thick and fast but no concrete development taking place in the probe. The recent robbery-cum-murder near an ATM in North Delhi has not been cracked as yet despite Delhi Police moving mountains.
Another case which made headlines this year was the death of Nido Tania, son of a Congress MlA from Arunachal Pradesh, who was allegedly beaten by some shopkeepers in South Delhi.
The incident became a watershed moment bringing to light racial abuse and targeting of people from the North-East in the national capital. Delhi Police, which drew a lot of flak in the case, has since then set up a new unit and a helpline number 1093 to address any grievance faced by people from the North-East.
Special Cell of Delhi Police made several arrests of key members of banned Indian Mujahideen (IM) in the current year, including its chief Tehseen Akhtar. It did face challenges in dealing with Trilokpuri riots but managed to quell it by sustained police action that included flying drones to keep a tab on the troublemongers. Communal flare-up was also witnessed in Outer Delhi’s Bawana around Muharram over route of the procession after a mahapanchayat objected to it. The procession was then allowed to proceed under heavy police presence in a subdued manner after Delhi Police met with the elders of the society.
The year also saw a steep rise in the cases of attacks on policemen. Till December 15, more than 300 such cases were reported, including one
in which an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP) was attacked and brutally beaten up in a case of road rage in South Delhi on October 17. Seven policemen lost their lives and 17 were seriously injured till December 15 while two cops were killed and 13 were injured in the entire 2013.
The highlight of this year was the arrest of IM’s operations chief Akhtar, alias Monu, who was arrested from Indo-Nepal border on March 25. His arrest had come days after another top IM operative Zia-ur-Rehman, alias Waqas was nabbed from Ajmer in Rajasthan along with three of his associates. Continuing its operations against the IM the Special Cell on September 6 nabbed another operative Ajaz Sheikh, who allegedly provided logistical support during IM strikes and sent anonymous mails after them from outside Saharanpur Railway Station in western Uttar Pradesh.