EASY MONEY
Advocate LN RAO, who worked in Delhi Police for over three decades and retired as a deputy commissioner of police of the Special Cell, said snatching has become rampant because it’s relatively easy and offers instant returns.
“Disposing of a snatched cell phone or a piece of gold jewellery is not a problem. An unemployed person vulnerable towards crime has realised that there is no dearth of buyers for such stolen items. It may be difficult to dispose a stolen car but this is not the case with cell phones or gold jewellery. With prices of cell phones and gold increasing regularly, the unemployed person, who has stolen those items, gets a good return,” he said.
Rao said that a cell phone, which costs Rs 30,000 could be sold at half its price, and a gold jewellery once stolen could be melted within minutes, removing all evidence of the crime.
Another expert, Vikram Singh, who was a former director-general of the Uttar Pradesh police, said, “Incidents happening in many parts of the city show that the snatchers do not fear the police in Delhi. Police must hit back. I mean, hit hard. If snatchers are striking in different parts of the city, it means police are unable to create fear in the minds of the snatchers. Snatchers should know that if they indulge in any trick, the police will make them pay. Police should work towards that.”
Delhi’s deputy commissioner of police of the crime branch, Chinmoy Biswal, who is also the police spokesperson, said, “Our cases show that many juveniles are indulging in snatching. We cannot maintain their record. Many times, when they are caught, we find that they have a history of such crimes but there is no such record. Maintaining surveillance then becomes difficult. There are many first-time offenders too. Though it is not part of core policing, every year we identify youths, who could deviate towards crime if given an opportunity. As part of our YUVA programme, we helped thousands of such youths find jobs so that they can be weaned away from the wrong path. At times, there are some incidents but we have launched a massive crack down on snatching and all other crimes. The numbers of snatching calls have reduced while the number of arrested persons has increased.”