In view of rising instances of attacks on traffic personnel, the Delhi Police has decided to arm traffic police personnel with pistols. Addressing the media at the annual presser on Monday, Delhi Police Commissioner BS Bassi said that a total of 1,000 traffic policemen will be given pistols within the next few months to deter traffic violation and curb incidents of road rage.
Choppers will be used for round-the-year aerial surveillance in the city mostly to monitor and regulate traffic during peak hours, by next year, the top cop added.
“The proposal regarding full-time use of helicopters for aerial surveillance has been drafted and it is likely to be put into operation by next year. We have planned to take helicopters from Pawan Hans ltd. on rental basis for the purpose,” Bassi said.
The police chief also released the annual report that showed an increase of 24.05 per cent in number of cases registered in 2015 as compared to 2014. The Delhi Police registered 1,82,644 cases under different Sections of IPC in 2015, up from 1,47,237 in 2014. Of all the crime cases, only 27 per cent (49,903 cases) were solved.
Explaining the rise in crime under certain categories, Bassi said that they were encouraging free and fair registration of cases as that would give an idea to the force about the criminals involved under various heads. Truthful registration of cases will help the police in the long run, he added.
“From goat theft to stealing of `20, we registered every relevant FIR. It is really satisfactory as per the expectation of people of Delhi,” Bassi said.
Highlighting the major achievement of the force, the top cop said a total of 49,903 IPC cases, including 6,328 heinous ones, were solved in 2015 as compared to 43,431, including 5,784 heinous cases, in the previous year. The Delhi Police arrested 101 criminals carrying rewards, busted 29 major gangs, arrested six terrorists and 346 drug traffickers. With the alertness of the Delhi Police Control Room (PCR) services, 274 criminals were caught red handed, 130 stolen vehicles were recovered, and 61,965 injured were shifted to hospitals, he added.
The decision to arm the traffic police personnel was taken in view of cases of road rage and violence witnessed in the past two years in which the victims were traffic personnel. In October, a traffic police official suffered severe injuries after being hit by a speeding car in south-east Delhi’s Hazrat Nizamuddin area. The injured official along with four others were deployed at a picket for conducting night checking.
The city is manned by about 5,500 traffic cops.
In September, a traffic constable sustained severe injuries after being hit by a speeding truck at a police picket near Delhi Cantonment area.
The official was checking documents of heavy moving vehicles at a picket and the accused driver tried to escape for which he allegedly hit the driver and later fled after abandoning the vehicle.
In July, two traffic constables were brutally thrashed by members of a family, who were later joined by a mob, when they stopped two minors riding a motorcycle, in northeast Delhi’s Gokulpuri area.
In the same month, five traffic police officials were seriously injured when a car rammed into a barricade set up by them in north Delhi’s Civil lines area. The driver, who was suspected to be in a drunken state and was trying to escape by over speeding, was arrested after the incident.
In all cases, the officials were allegedly attacked by offenders who wanted to escape and were suspected to be aware that traffic personnel are not armed. The aforementioned incidents, and many others, took place in late night or wee hours of the day, a senior official said adding that traffic officials deployed in the city borders are often assaulted or threatened.
As per the report, 73 cases of dacoity, 541 of murder, 2,094 of rape, 5,192 of molestation, 7,192 of robbery and 9,422 of snatching were registered in 2015. Besides there were 31,114 cases of Motor Vehicle (MV) theft in 2015 as compared to 22,219 in 2014. Also, cases of attempt to murder also witnessed a rise of 1.21 per cent as in 2014, 741 cases were registered while in 2015, 750 had been registered.
The data shows that 3,367 cases of robbery were solved in 2015 in comparison to 2,850 in 2014 whereas 2,246 cases of snatching were resolved as compared to 1,803 in 2014. As many as 6,012 robbers, 3,109 snatchers, 2,949 burglars and 12,209 thieves were arrested in the year 2015. Similarly, 271 cases under NDPS Act and 683 under Arms Act were registered in 2015, following which 346 and 804 arrests were made respectively under the Act. The crime of fake Indian currency note, however, had decreased to 5.20 crore in 2015 from 17.30 crore in 2012.