Crime graph dips; reluctance to register FIRs the reason?

Going by statistics of the Chandigarh Police,the crime graph spiralled down quite a bit in 2009. The police registered 4,100 cases in the year,as compared to 4536 in 2008...

Going by statistics of the Chandigarh Police,the crime graph spiralled down quite a bit in 2009. The police registered 4,100 cases in the year,as compared to 4536 in 2008,with 1728 thefts topping the list of the crime chart once again. But while the police may take pride in the figures by keeping them lower than those of the previous two years,doubts have been raised on whether it is crime being controlled or the figures themselves.

In a practice that is admitted by officers themselves,police stations generally keep the incidence of crime in their jurisdiction under control.

It has been seen that the police are sometimes reluctant to lodge an FIR even when prima facie it is a genuine complaint. This is because the police stations want to show their area with less crime incidence. It is also true that an FIR means the police are accountable for investigation into the crime,and an investigating officer has to be appointed for the case, points out Tejinder Singh Sudan,president of and NGO,Lawyers for Human Rights International.

It generally happens when somebody would want to lodge a complaint for stolen vehicle or mobile phone,he adds. He lists the remedy by saying that in such a situation,one may approach the Superintendent of Police or go to the court which may direct the police to file an FIR in the case.

Director General of Police S K concedes that there is reluctance in converting complaints into FIRs,he adds that he regularly instructs station house officers to convert genuine complaints into FIRs when going through the daily crime file.

Unsolved cases: Two sensational murder cases remain unsolved. The May 5 incident of murder of Sham Fashion Mall owner Amarjit Singh still has the police groping in the dark. The murder of a middle aged woman in SBI Colony,Sector 42,is the other case the police have been unable to solve. The woman,Santosh Kumari,was found electrocuted and strangulated on August 3,2009 .

The robbery of August 13,2009 in which three armed robbers looted cash and jewellery from a house in Sector 35 is another unsolved case.

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From previous years,probe into the murder of Inspector Kashmir Singh he was stoned to death on August 2,2008 is still not complete.

Crime 2008 2009

Theft 1991 1728
Accident 477 422
Burglary 257 241
Cheating 217 193
Kidnapping/abduction 50 43
Robbery 23 27
Riot 85 65
Dacoity 1 4
Murder 17 22

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theft