New Delhi: Delhi Lt Governor VK Saxena has instructed the commissioner of police (CP) to increase police visibility across the city by preparing lists of deployments and monitoring by senior officers in plain clothes, Raj Niwas officials said on Tuesday. He has asked the police commissioner to prepare a list of senior officers responsible for compliance and ensuring such visibility.
A duty chart of senior officers with details of their deployment and phone numbers will be sent to the LG Secretariat for regular monitoring, they said. "Saxena further advised the police commissioner to constitute teams of senior officers in plain clothes who can inspect and report on compliance with deployment and police presence in different areas," a Raj Niwas official said.
LG has also warned that any laxity in the matter will be viewed seriously, he added. The LG has been consistently emphasising visible policing as the "biggest deterrent" against crime and has asked the police personnel on duty to be visibly present at the beats and outposts. He has also been reviewing the traffic situation in the city on a weekly basis along with senior police and transport officials, leading to better visibility of traffic police personnel on the roads, officials said.
Given that the LG has direct control over Delhi Police, the ruling AAP and Saxena are always at odds over the subject of law and order. The ministers from the AAP had been picking on LG all along, alleging that under the watch of Saxena, more crimes are causing the city's law and order to deteriorate.
According to the Delhi Police's crime statistics, accessed by PTI, the national capital has seen a spike in cases of crimes like burglary, organised crime and attempts to murder. As per the data, a total of 5,735 burglary cases have been reported this year till August 15, which is an increase of 25.25 per cent from 2023, during which 4,579 cases of burglaries were reported in the same period.
Similarly, a total of 570 attempts to murder cases have been reported till this year's August 15, which is an increase of 17.77 per cent from 2023, during which 484 cases were reported in the same period. This year so far, the criminals have been booked in 35 cases of organised crime, where they were found to be operated in syndicates.
These cases also include stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) sections against gangsters operating from overseas.
