In a first of its kind initiative by the men-in-khaakhi from Palghar and Thane district, commissioner- Sadanand Date presented the annual progress report of the Mira Bhayandar-Vasai Virar (MBVV) police on Monday.
The government had elevated the existing rural format of the Thane and Palghar police to a combined MBVV in October, 2020. The MBVV began with limited manpower and resources including 13 police stations, two traffic units and a few other branches. While one more traffic unit and two more police stations including Pelhar and Achole were added, five more police stations are in the anvil. The MBVV has also introduced several new branches including- homicide unit, anti-narcotics cell, anti-terrorist squads and specialized teams to deal with different types of cheating and financial frauds under the economic offences wing.
Apart from succeeding in improving the rate of conviction to 82% , MBVV’s crime detection rate has registered a rise of 8 % in 2021. While vehicle theft cases have gone up from 771 in 2019 to 869 in 2021, the detection rate has improved to 33 percent. Apart from launching e-visit facilities owing to the pandemic situation and installing 5,216 CCTV cameras under the public-police-partnership model, the technology-driven “Dial 112” project has received 5,711 calls since its launch in June-2021 and the MBVV police has clocked a response time of 15 to 20 minutes. 27 cases under the Passport Act were registered and 84 foreign nationals were held out of which 21 have been deported so far.
The police have registered 66 drug related cases and arrested 119 peddlers with seizures amounting Rs. 2.48 crore. Similarly 171 cases were registered in context to guthka trade in which 261 people were booked. The traffic wing has registered nearly 1.36 lakh cases and recovered penalties amounting more than Rs. 3.97 crore. Last but not the least, the cops attached to the Bharosa Cell are also playing the role of buddies and counsellors. The cell has amicably settled 36 cases.
