In past 50 days, Mohali witnessed 6 murders, one every eighth day

Apart from the murders, a total of 12 cases of snatching, three cases of robberies and 14 cases of attempt to murder were registered in the district in the last 50 days. With the growing number of such incidents, questions are raised on the pressure on the district police. Punjab Director General of Police (DGP) Gaurav Yadav had visited the police stations on October 9.

During the meeting, the residents voiced concerns over various critical issues, including the shortage of police personnel in Mohali, lack of outreach by Station House Officers (SHOs), traffic congestion, insufficient CCTV camera surveillance, tenant verification, rise in petty crimes, heavy vehicles plying in city limits, and vendor encroachments. The DGP assured the residents that their concerns are genuine and will be addressed promptly.

During his visit, local police officials informed him that there are around 650 police personnel deputed in 20 police stations in the district. Requesting anonymity, a police official said that although the crime detection rate of the district police is good and all the murder cases were solved and some gangs involved in highway robberies were busted, with growing population there is a surge in petty crimes which always poses a challenge to the police.

Mohali Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Deepak Parekh said that they have devised a strategy to tackle the petty crime. He highlighted that they have created a District Crime Records Bureau (DCRB) to keep a tab on the bailed out criminals so that the police could keep an eye on their activities. The SSP said that all the major crimes had been solved and the dedicated teams were working to solve all the cases. He added that they had recently doubled the strength of the PCR vehicles from 15 to 30 in Mohali, there was increased patrolling in the vulnerable areas like airport road. “We are also trying to improve CCTV penetration in the city and areas like Kharar and Mullanpur which are vulnerable to crime,” the SSP said.