Strict policing and more

Aformer BSP leader’s son Ashish Pandey who was seen threatening a couple with a gun at a five-star hotel in the national capital in a viral video earlier this week finally surrendered before a Delhi court on Thursday. The court has remanded him for a day, he has been booked under the Arms Act. In another video, Pandey has claimed innocence in the matter and said that he did not point the gun at the couple and it was hanging behind him all the time during the altercation. The police are investigating the case and when it files the charge sheet in the court, the official version of what transpired at the hotel involving Pandey would emerge. However, the incident once again underlined the growing impression that Delhi is fast becoming an unsafe place, where criminals do not hesitate to use firearms, sometimes at the slightest provocation. Over the past months, several incidents of crime were reported in the national capital in which illegal firearms were used, giving rise to the impression that Delhi is in the grip of trigger-happy goons. The police claim that they have stepped up their vigil to check the supply of illegal arms from other states. Delhi being the national capital has one of the best security apparatus in the country, with Delhi Police having the distinction of being one of the most professional police forces in the business. Delhi Police comes under the Union Ministry of Home Affairs and it gets enough funds to run its affairs smoothly, a far cry for the police in other states. However, the police force has not been able to cope with the pressure of an ever-rising population and consequent rise in crime over the past decades. From vehicle theft to rape and murder, the national capital witnesses all sorts of possible crimes on a daily basis. After pollution, crime is perhaps the biggest problem faced by the residents of the national capital. A worrying trend is the involvement of juveniles, who are protected by the law and are not arrested. Rather, they are sent to reformation homes for a much shorter period than the adult criminals. For the population of Delhi, there are numerous of juvenile delinquents roaming around the city looking for an opportunity to strike. Normally, the police do not have enough intelligence available on the juveniles until they commit a major crime and the law enforcement agencies go after them. Usually, they begin with small street crimes and gradually move up. Previous incidents have shown that juveniles are much more lethal and insensitive in executing the crime that takes a serious toll on the sense of security that people would want to have at least in the national capital.

Apart from the tribe of trigger-happy criminals and a growing number of juveniles committing heinous crimes, Delhi also witnesses inter-gang rivalries. Earlier, criminal gangs from neighbouring states used to prey on Delhi but now Delhi itself has a large number of criminal gangs who are involved in a variety of crimes such as roadside snatching, vehicle theft, extortion, contract killing among others. One reason why the crime rate has steadily gone up in the national capital over the years is that the government has not increased the number of policemen in proportion to the rise in population. While people have immigrated to the national capital in large numbers from different states, the police force has not been strengthed and upgraded similarly. Another important reason why juveniles are entering the world of crime in large numbers is that the country does not have a policy for young adults. While we have enough policy frameworks to look after the children and take care of issues associated with adult men and women, we do not have any policy whatsoever for adolescents, who should have been ideally enrolled in skill development centres if they are not pursuing any formal education so that they could pursue a more meaningful life. Adolescence is a very important phase in one’s life as it determines the future of an individual depending on what he does during this impressionable age. If we give some skills, the person can follow it up and develop it further into a viable career option. But if we don’t, senior criminals looking for new recruits will initiate them into the world of crime. Once a person is initiated into crime, he is unlikely to shake it off later on.

In short, the rise in crime in the national capital indicates the failure of the government to offer meaningful options to people left behind in the race for development. However, for the rich and spoilt like Pandey who think they are above law, we need to have a strict policing and ensure public security.