Locals want better policing in Noida

NOIDA: Residents living in 7X sectors are demanding improved policing in the area after a spate of crimes were reported in the past 10 days.

Two cases of valuables getting stolen from parked vehicles were reported from Sector 117 (adjoining 7X) and North eye junction in Sector 74 on September 14 and 15 respectively. Similarly, a phone snatching attempt was reported from Sector 77 nearly 10 days ago. The incidents have sparked panic among residents in the area, which falls under the jurisdiction of Sector 49 police station.

“A bid was made to snatch the phone of one of the residents in our society. Such safety issues have been raised time and again. Besides improving patrolling in the area, there has to be an element of surprise in the patrolling pattern to keep anti-social elements on their toes. The pattern of patrolling cannot be predictable,” said Amit Gupta, president of the apartment owners association (AOA) of Prateek Wisteria in Sector 77.

“The empty plots and illegal colonies housing labourers are areas where residents are most vulnerable and have to think twice before venturing into such places. We have had issues of trespassing and sneaking from the boundary wall in the past. There is no patrolling. People are often seen consuming liquor openly. There are several construction sites in the area and there is no accountability of the settlers there.all these factors put our safety and law and order at risk,” said Punit Sharma, president, AOA of Aditya Celebrity Homes in Sector 76.

Despite concerns of residents, police data for the area shows that street crimes here have gone down from 109 in 2019 to around 75 in 2020 to less than 15 till September this year. Additional deputy commissioner of police, zone 1, Kumar Ranvijay Sigh, said, “We are working on solving the cases of vehicle break-ins... We have informant based policing in the labour clusters as well.”