PUNE, DEC 28: Who is responsible for kidnapping and extortion incidents? If the State Director General of Police Subhash Malhotra is to be believed, the blame fairly and squarely lies on ``the victims themselves.''Malhotra made the comments on Wednesday when the reporters sought his views on the string of kidnappings that shook Pune in the recent weeks.The State DGP was in the city for launching of the Pune Citizens' Police Foundation, a purely citizens initiative for resource mobilisation and also to bring about police reforms.``In kidnapping and extortions, the victims know who is demanding money and where it is to be paid before the crime is actually committed. These sort of crimes take place because the victims fail to contact the police immediately after receiving the first threatening calls. Most kidnapping and extortions can be avoided if the victims alert the police in time. We've succeeded in saving lives of some film personalities in Mumbai just because they were prompt in reaching us,'' Malhotra told the reporters.Lamenting that the police had not been receiving cooperation from victims of kidnapping and extortion incidents, Malhotra said, ``At times the victims don't tell us anything at all. Nobody admits to us that he has paid a ransom.''Malhotra appealed to the potential victims to come forward and report to the police about the threats to them by the underworld. He assured that the police would maintain confidentiality and do their best to make early arrests of culprits to ensure the safety of the victim.He said the Pune police were tightlipped on progress of investigations into the three abduction cases which were reported in the recent weeks because they were carrying out certain operations to nab the culprits.Earlier, speaking at the launch of the Pune Citizens' Police Foundation, Malhotra said, ``Crime is bound to increase. Number of social violence, robberies, kidnapping and extortion incidents will increase in the years to come. It cannot be rooted out completely but the police can check the crime if upright citizens cooperate with them.''Conceding that the police were facing a severe manpower crunch, he had said the Maharashtra police had manpower of 1.44 lakh as against the population of 10 crore. Of the total force, only 30 per cent was available for regular duties. ``The percentage of criminals and criminally inclined people is only three per cent of the total population but 97 per cent of the people who are innocent choose to remain silent spectators. The job of policemen will be easy if these 97 per cent innocent people join hands with the lawkeepers,'' he said.Malhotra lamented that the training and other facilities for the police were inadequate. ``Policemen are given basic training at the time of recruitment. But, we do not have facilities to provide them in service training. The less said the better about the housing facilities for the policemen. The estimated expenses to come up to 80 per cent housing satisfaction among the police all over the state is over Rs 21,000 crore,'' he said.Pointing out that quality education for children of policemen had always been neglected, he urged the citizens to take initiative and set up special public schools for children of policemen.
