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Moving away from big crime

Changing lifestyles and police vigil have caused the shift, says Devesh K. Pandey

Till not very long ago, the Capital was plagued by crimes of extreme brutality involving gangs belonging to certain de-notified tribes. However, rapid increases in population, changes in lifestyle and heightened police vigil seem to have forced these criminals to shift to petty crimes.

The criminal elements belonging to de-notified tribes from Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh had become a major law and order problem for the police in Delhi. Whenever these gangs struck, they committed a series of crimes. They attacked during dark nights, targeting houses located in isolated places, preferably near jungles. Soon after barging into a house, they would de-capacitate the occupants, hitting them on the heads with blunt objects. They used anything from branches, iron rods to wooden logs as weapons.

The much talked about "Kachchha Baniyan" gangs also employed a similar modus operandi. They would apply oil to their bodies so that they could "slip'' away in case they were caught.

Following a spate of such crimes in 2002, the police were forced to take several measures including liaison with civic bodies to ensure that the streets were well lit during dark nights to prevent such gangs from striking.

A couple of years ago, the police came across some incidents in North-West Delhi in which criminals suspected to be members of the Bawaria tribe robbed families after criminally assaulting the women inmates.

However, it now appears that the gangs are gradually shifting to petty crimes like chain snatching, burglary, bag lifting and even mobile phone theft.

In the recent past, some criminals belonging to the Bawaria tribe were arrested in different parts of Delhi for their involvement in snatching cases.

Police officers attribute this shift to the pressure mounted by them. However, they also cite various other factors for the change. One reason is the changing lifestyle of the city that is now characterised by late working hours and nightlife. While more people can be seen on the streets at night these days, new housing societies and colonies have come up in areas that were once isolated.

"Another major reason is that the younger generation is aware of the consequences of committing heinous crimes. They know that several of them arrested for heinous offences had to spend years in jail. Therefore, they prefer to commit petty offences like snatching that attract less punishment," says a police officer. It is easy for them to secure bail in such cases as chances of recovering the stolen property are slim.

Interestingly such a shift in the crime trend is being noticed mostly in Delhi. The police have evidence indicating that these criminals are following the same old modus operandi in small towns and rural areas.

An alleged criminal belonging to a Bawaria gang who was arrested by the Crime Branch earlier this year confessed to his involvement in 40 cases of robbery and murder in Punjab, UP, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka.

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