32 criminal cases at Trade Fair 2017, massive drop from last year's 166

NEW DELHI: 32 criminal cases were reported at this year's India International Trade Fair (IITF), of which 10 were solved, Delhi Police said, adding that compared to the last two editions, crimes at the Trade Fair have decreased.

According to police data, there was no burglary, motor vehicle theft, molestation and kidnapping at this year's fair.

However, 25 cases of other thefts, five cases of pickpocketing and one snatching were reported from Pragati Maidan.

10 cases, i.e. 31.25 percent of this year's cases, were solved, in which 36 accused were arrested.

At the 2016 Trade Fair, 166 cases were reported, of which seven were solved.

In 2015, around 280 cases were reported, of which only eight cases, i.e. 2.85 per cent cases, were worked out.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (IITF) Kumar Gyanesh said that the reduction in the registration of crimes was about 70 percent and the number of arrests increased to more than 100 percent as compared to the previous year data.

The DCP added that this improvement was the result of measures taken to tackle crime, such as use of CCTV, technical surveillance, dedicated night teams at halls and hangars and random checking teams at gates; all of which were instrumental in prevention and detection of crime.

"Inter-state gangs of pick-pockets operated by both women and men were apprehended and sent to jail in the first few days only.

"In one of the cases, seven high-end mobile phones were recovered from an accused," said the DCP.

This year, a six-year-old girl and a 12-year-old boy were separated from their families. After their identification and addresses were confirmed, police reunited them with their respective parents.

The data also stated that over five lakh people from Delhi-NCR visited IITF-2017.

The crowd was controlled and monitored through 'crowd clearance and exit clearance' police teams, deployed specially this year keeping in mind the available area which was nearly half of the area allotted in previous years.

Police further claimed that a special help desk was set up exclusively for north eastern Indians, senior citizens, differently-abled visitors and children for prompt and quick assistance.

Police staff was prompt in responding in all such cases, whenever visitors approached the police station seeking help.

A special team, called 'Roko Toko', was also formed for the Trade Fair, with the aim of checking the body language of suspected persons.

Policemen at the Fair were told to not use phones during their deployment.