Next time, you board the Delhi Metro, keep your pockets and purses sealed with safety as it has been tagged as the den of burglars according to the statistics. Over 3, 854 theft cases have already been registered in just a span of two-and-half-months.
According to the data, the Metro authorities have registered as many as 3,854 theft cases till March 15. However, the Delhi Metro Rail Police in compared to last year had registered 9, 705 cases.
While 962 crimes were committed in Delhi-NCR areas under the jurisdiction of the metro in the year 2013, the figure rose to 2,211 cases within a year. The number of crimes has already crossed 3104 in 2015.
But, according to the Delhi Police, the stations are always kept under the scanner. The cops reported that the metro stations are adequately covered under the jurisdiction of 14 Police Stations of Metro. They are on 24 hours of patrolling to check suspects. Also, the Police Assistance Booths are functioning at major Metro stations.
In addition to this, the cops also keep regular liaison with the CISF authorities and joint drives are conducted from time to time. They also reported that the cases have come to light owing to the conscious policy of truthful registration of cases, increase in number of daily commuters and convenient mode of filing FIRs online.
However, in a drive to curb the menace of CISF identified suspected pick pocketers and drove them from Metro premises between January 2016 to December 2016. Interestingly, the number of female pickpocketers are 432 while male is only 34.
A DLF employee and regular commuter of Delhi Metro said, "It is the second time that I have lost my cell phone in Metro." The angered victim also stated that the Delhi police is busy arresting people who have false degrees and busy fighting with Delhi government, Delhi CM. "How and when will they have time to fight crime which is their primary job? added the commuter.
The police sources stated that there is only 225 personnel under the railway unit of Delhi Police. They have demanded the presence of around 2,000 personnel.
"Female police staffs are in acute shortage – four sub-inspectors, two assistant sub-inspectors, three head constables and 62 constables are spread over 160 metro stations. We have asked our department to increase the number of police personnel at the Metro police station. But due to the shortage in police strength, we are not getting more cops," said the sources.
Moreover, low police patrolling and absent CCTV cameras and police posts around the stations are some major safety concerns for thousands of commuters.
"The ridership of Delhi Metro has risen to 100 crore. Metro is running at maximum capacity most of the time. The crime such as picking pockets, mobile thefts, etc have increased with the increase in the ridership," an official said.