Shining India - Governance at its Peak - Delhi cops don't file FIRs in 90% of cases
Muhammad Javed Iqbal
NEW DELHI: Here's why it would be extremely embarrassing for Delhi to
accept the Centre's ``advice'' that all complaints made to the police
be filed as FIRs. If FIRs are indeed made mandatory, there would
roughly be a 10-fold increase in the city's crime statistics.
A study of PCR call records in Delhi reveals that on an average,
nearly 20 complaints of snatchings are received every day while more
than 10 calls are made for robberies. These are incidents reported by
the alleged victims themselves, but only 10% of these complaints get
converted into FIRs - which go into the crime records. This year, for
instance, nearly 1,300 cases of snatchings were registered as compared
to 13,500 calls made, while 450 robbery cases were registered out of
3,000 calls received.
The police have been given the power to use their discretion in filing
FIRs to keep out frivolous and false complaints. But in the case of
Delhi Police, it's clearly being used to make crime statistics look
good on paper. As a result, genuine victims of crime don't get redress
and are often harassed.
Take the case of Charan Singh (30), who works with a finance company
at Connaught Place. He was allegedly robbed by three unidentified men
near the Dwarka sector 14 Metro station while returning home.
He says the armed men took away Rs 6,000, a gold chain and a mobile
phone. Singh made a PCR call to report the incident, but a month has
gone by without a case being registered.
``Police said they will inform me whenever they find my valuables. No
FIR was registered and they just gave me a stamped copy of my
complaint,'' Singh said.
On November 2, a biker gang allegedly snatched a gold chain worth Rs
45,000 from Nisha Jain at the Shanti Vihar area of Anand Vihar in east
Delhi. Her husband Anand, a software professional, filed a complaint
but said that more than one month after the incident, he is yet to
hear from cops. ``The police intimidated me saying that we will have
to appear in court if an FIR is lodged in the case,'' he added.
``The issue of non-registration of incidents was recently raised
before home minister P Chidambaram during the Intelligence Bureau
centenary endowment meeting. He also learned at the meeting that there
had been a long delay in filing of the case against top cop SPS
Rathore in the Ruchika case. This prompted the ministry to issue an
advisory to states and UTs,'' said an officer who was part of the
meet.
TOI contacted several people who were victims of crime in the past few
months and each one of them said they were still waiting for justice
and their cases to be registered. Here are some illustrative cases:
* Parwati Singh was carrying Rs 25,000 when two goons on a bike took
away the cash near Pocket H of Seemapuri. Her daughter Shakuntala, who
works with a private company, told TOI, ``The incident took place on
November 1. My mother was going to deposit the money in a bank when it
was snatched. We haven't heard from the cops yet, neither has an FIR
been registered.''
* Kiran Mehta, a resident of Maurya Enclave, had a similar tale. Two
men on a bike snatched her purse containing Rs 5,000, a voter ID card
and three pairs of silver anklets near Radhapuri Lane in Maurya
Enclave on November 2. Mehta's brother said, ``We have still not been
able to get an FIR registered. The police asked me to come and collect
a non-cognizable receipt (NCR) about the lost documents.''
* Parkash, an employee in a private company, was allegedly robbed of
Rs 5,700 by three men near Rajokri village in south Delhi. He suffered
head injuries and was admitted to the trauma centre on November 11.
But more than a month after the incident, the police have not filed a
FIR in the robbery case. Parkash's friend Ajay said, ``We have not
received any FIR though we had filed a complaint with the police at
Vasant Kunj.''
* Sahib, a 26-year-old factory employee was robbed by eight persons of
his gold chain at Bharat Nagar in northwest Delhi on October 20. The
PCR recorded the call as a dacoity. But even after two months, no case
has been registered. Sahib's sister-in-law Neena, said, ``The SHO of
the area called us and made us identify three persons but we never got
our gold chain back. They did not register any FIR and we do not want
to pursue the matter further.''
Satish Kumar
wrote:
> Shining India - Governance at its Peak - Delhi cops don't file FIRs in 90% of cases
In Pakistan one business that shines thru even the thickest gloom is
Muhammad Javed Zball's business as a pimp for Orangi brothels where he
rents out phuddis of Asmaa/Rehana and the ghands of Ali/Farooq/Bilal.
Business is booming because would be suicide bombers want one last
sexual act on earth before spending the rest of eternity inside the
orifices of 72 Houris and 28 pearl like boys in Paradise.
Suicide bombing is booming in Pakistan and so is Muhammad Javed
Zball's business as a pimp.