Mumbai: There has been a drastic drop in chain-snatching incidents in all police jurisdictions of central city’s Zone-4 comprising six police stations of Bhoiwada, Kalachowky, Matunga, RAK Marg, Sion, Antop Hill and Wadala Truck Terminal (TT).
The reason is Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Dr Praveen Mundhe’s bright idea of a night-time detection unit that asks “suspicious” bikers why they are out so late and clicks their pictures, which are saved in the area police’s database. Equally bright is the drive’s title, ‘Roko-Toko-Photo’.
DCP Mundhe: I just reimplemented the idea
Refusing to take complete credit, DCP Mundhe said the concept isn’t new. “Someone, somewhere thought of this before; I just reimplemented it in my jurisdiction after I took charge in November last year. This arrangement is for prevention and detection. It keeps the squad active and crime under check,” he said.
DCP Mundhe had earlier implemented this unique patrolling idea in Jalgaon where he was posted as the Superintendent of Police (SP). One night, a Jalgaon unitspotted two suspicious-looking men strolling around aimlessly. They clicked their photos without foreseeing what was coming next.
DCP Mundhe recalled that a murder came to light in a remote village the next day. There were no leads as the village has no CCTV cameras. When all police officers and the staff gathered for a meeting, one of them thought about the picture stash collected every night during the ‘Roko-Toko-Photo’ campaign.
“To our surprise, one of the two men photographed the night before the murder was reported had blood spots on his clothes. The details were fished out and they were hunted down. As it turned out, they were returning nonchalantly after committing the murder that night,” said DCP Mundhe.
The ‘Roko-Toko-Photo’ ensemble
The ‘Roko-Toko-Photo’ ensemble has two-night duty officers, one officer from the detection unit and two constables from every police station. The team is different from regular patrolling units, which usually comprise four beat marshals and four mobile jeeps.
The target are only bikers roaming past midnight. A police officer said, “A criminal changes body language the moment he spots the police. Actual crime or any such intent can easily be detected. We enquire about the purpose of roaming around late at night, take location details and mobile numbers and click their pictures. We get 10-12 on regular nights, and not everyone we spot is problematic.”
On Jan 29, the patrolling team spotted two bikers on Shastri Nagar Road in Sion-Koliwada. The drill was followed and their details and pictures were posted on the police WhatsApp group. The next morning, the Wadala TT police received a complaint about chain snatching and mobile theft.
“We looked around for CCTV footage and found two men. Their pictures from the footage matched those on the WhatsApp group. We asked the Sion patrol team to summon them; it turned out they were the ones behind the snatching,” a police officer said.
DCP Mundhe said, “Our aim is to minimise property theft offences and increase the detection rate. The cases of chain snatching and petty crimes have gone down now, while also creating vigilance.”
