Dark & deserted: Dwarka haven for petty criminals ( TOI)

[Sareen Dwarka]

Dark & deserted: Dwarka haven for petty criminals

Somreet Bhattacharya,TNN | Apr 12, 2015

NEW DELHI: Lack of streetlights, empty roads and absence of security guards in most colonies after sunset seem to have made Dwarka a happy hunting ground for criminals. Police plead helplessness, claiming that repeated requests to the civic bodies to install adequate number of streetlights in the sub-city remain unheeded.

Incidents of petty street crimes are rampant on the stretch between sector 13 and 23 after dark. At least five cases of snatching are reported every day at the three police stations in Dwarka. Residents claim all the sectors have a number of secluded areas and desolate buildings, which have become hideouts for the criminals from Uttar Pradesh and Haryana.

In fact, the local police had started an integrated patrolling system involving PCR vans and traffic cops after a sudden spurt in snatching, car-jacking and robbery cases in the past eight months. Despite these measures, petty crimes continue to take place in the sub-city, say residents.

"We have even identified the crime-prone spots and requested the civic agencies to install streetlights. The request was sent several times but no action was taken," said a senior police officer.

Regimon C K, vice-president of Dwarka Residents' Forum said the civic bodies had sanctioned Rs 2 crore for maintenance of streetlights, but nothing much has happened. "We have taken up the issue with the civic bodies and the discom, but they keep passing the buck over the ownership of land," said Regimon.

Anoop Rohera, joint secretary of the residents' forum, said, "We have been talking to BSES and DDA for so many years on the issue. They have installed lights on some streets, but there are many more to cover," he said.

Sanjeev Mitra, a resident of sector 12, said the worst-affected roads were the ones connecting the Metro stations with the main road. "Even if there are electric poles, most of them do not have bulbs. There is no one we can approach to get them rectified," he said.

A police officer said Dwarka was surrounded by a number of villages where people from different socio-economic background live and that the possibility of criminals coming in from these pockets could not be rules out. The proximity to the state border also allows criminals from the other states to enter the sub-city. Residents have identified Golf Course Road, road numbers 201, 202 and areas around Sewak Nagar and Tara Nagar to be crime prone.

RWAs and the police have formed joint committees to look into the issues and take up matters with civic authorities on a monthly basis.

Sent from my iPhone

[Mahendra Kumar Gupta]

Thanks to DF and Rejimon to highlight the issue.

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