Bhopal: Recovery Rate 40%

Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): Laxity of Bhopal police in probing cases pertaining to thefts, burglaries, vehicle lifting and robberies has reflected in the data disclosed by the Bhopal police commissionerate system lately. Data revealed by senior police officials of the commissionerate system reads that as many as 1,174 such cases have made their way to police records in the last one year.

Another issue of grave concern is the fact that the cops have been successful in recovering the stolen booty in just 469 cases, logging a minuscule recovery rate of 40 per cent. Even when Free Press tried taking stock of the reason behind the falling recovery rate at the office of Bhopal police commissionerate system, the office was teeming with complainants who were victims of theft and local police stations were doing less or almost nothing on their part to recover their stolen possessions.

VC Mishra, an engineer at Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL), told Free Press that unidentified thieves had barged into his house on March 16 this year and had made way with valuables like gold ornaments and cash money, worth Rs 27 lakh. He added that despite relentless complaints at TT Nagar police station, officials posted there did not pay heed to his grievances and thus he turned up at Commissioner’s office to get the issue redressed.

Other complainants present there, while requesting anonymity, said that majority of police stations of the city treat matters pertaining to thefts as trivial and many a times even ask complainants to arrange for CCTV footages to trace the accused.

On the issue, senior officials of the commissionerate system said that despite identification of 350 such offenders in the city, theft rate is on the rise, as inter-state gangs comprising tech-savvy thieves have been targeting deserted houses, vehicles and colonies, who manage to escape CCTV scanners and hoodwink cops.

More CCTVs to be installed soon: Bhopal CP

Concentrating on the theft hotspots such as Misrod, Ratibad, Koh-e-fiza and Hanumanganj, commissioner of police (CP) of Bhopal, Harinarayanachari Mishra said that a total of 200 more cameras are to be installed there, to trace the accused successfully.