Pickpockets make merry despite heavy police presence at IITF

Despite heavy deployment of police personnel in and around the India International Trade Fair at Pragati Maidan along with the added measures like installation of CCTV cameras, cases of pick-pocketing are still on the rise. Taking advantage of the rush, as many as 47 cases of pick-pocketing and around 95 cases of theft have been registered with the Delhi Police. 

Apart from the heavy presence of police at every nook and corner of the trade fair venue, the claims made by the police about mounted police turned out to be false with hardly any police on horse backs doing the rounds. 

Although police are seen manning the venue, cases pertaining to pick-pocketing are rising. A police personnel posted at the venue said that people coming to the Trade Fair do not pay attention to their belongings and therefore cases of pick-pocketing are reported. He said, “People are crazy about the fair. They do not care about what is happening to their valuables.”

Apart from the stalls which witness the rush, the food courts are the prime targets of the miscreants. Shelly, a visitor said: “I was eating at the food court when a man showed me a bangle saying that it was mine and when I was looking at it, he stole my shopping bag.”

According to a senior police official, around 148 FIRs have been registered till November 23 at the IITF police station which has been set up to address the problems faced by the visitors.

Irrespective of the presence of more than 200 CCTV cameras along with the already established cameras and the presence of more than 2000 police personnel at the venue which witnessed more than 1,67,000 visitors alone on Sunday and around 80,000 on Monday,  crimes pertaining to pick-pocketing and other thefts have been increasing day after day. The maximum cases were reported on the weekend when the turnout of visitors exceeded more than 1,67,000. Immense rush at the pavilions makes it all the more difficult for the police to keep a tab on the movement of the miscreants who smartly take away the valuables amidst the rush.