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FIRs in firing line as cops strive to keep crime rate low by Mohit Sharma


To register a formal complaint with the police about snatched or stolen articles is often as tough as getting the item recovered. That’s an old axiom held by a good majority of Delhiites.

And statistics go a long way into formalising it as a theory. Here’s from the police’s own record books: out of approximately 14,000 calls received by the Police Control Room (PCR) for “snatchings” this year, till November 30, the number of cases registered with the police is only 1,248.

Or take robberies, for instance: only 467 First Information Reports (FIRs) registered till this November 30 out of approximately 2,800 calls received by PCR.

In fact, just the festival months of October and November saw 2,631 and 1,989 calls, respectively, to the PCR for complaints related to snatching incidents, according to official documents obtained by Newsline. The police records themselves, though, say only 10 per cent of those complaints turned into formal FIRs at different police stations — a dismal statistic by any standard, says a senior officer (name withheld on request).

The officer said, “This trend of dissuading a victim from registering a formal case is seen mainly in robbery and snatching cases.” The records show that in October and November this year, there was a period of 15 days when the PCR received 15 calls of robbery each day. PCR call records for the same months show there were over 100 snatching complaints each on five days. Only a handful, though, turned into FIRs. Simple logic says the number is suggestive of the city’s actual crime rate, though Delhi Police statistics imply crime rate has reduced this year.

Why cases not registered

The officer said policemen often discourage citizens from lodging an FIR to lower the crime graph on paper. But the problem, he added, in this practice is once criminals involved in any of these cases of snatching and robbery are caught, they cannot be put away since there are no cases to arrest them.

“Even if a criminal is nabbed, he or she cannot be brought to trial as there would be no case filed against him or her.” The officer added that officials at police stations often “do not register FIRs until an influential person is involved”.

The officer said: “Complainants are first told by investigating officers that the local police would try to find the snatched, or stolen, article. After that, they try to persuade the victims to not register a case since it would lead to legal proceedings, and they would have to mark their presence in court.”

Police figures say there has also been an increase in dacoity, thefts and motor vehicle thefts this year, and total non-heinous crime has increased by a little over 2 per cent.

Delhi Police spokesperson Rajan Bhagat said, “We analyse each and every call that comes on PCR and take them to a logical conclusion.”

FIRs registered in 2009, till Nov 30

Total (heinous): 1,838
Total (non-heinous): 43,414
Dacoity: 21
Murder: 516
Attempt to murder: 358
Robbery: 486
Kidnapping for ransom: 25
Rape: 436
Snatching: 1,248
Extortion: 125
Burglary: 1,557
House theft: 1,763
Motor vehicle theft: 11,412

Victims of police’s FIR apathy

“On November 25, I was driving and had stopped at a turn when two men forcibly got into my car. When I resisted, they threatened to kill me — they grabbed my neck and took my rings off and slipped away just as quickly. I went to Roop Nagar police station. Though I wanted to register an FIR, the policemen there scared me by saying I would have to make daily appearance at the police station and court, and accompany police teams on every raid. So I finally backed off. ”

A R MEHRA, 74, resident of 24-A, DDA flats, Gulabi Bagh ( Mehra is a retired government official )

“I had gone to a friend’s house in Mayur Vihar a few days ago and when I went down to my car — this was around 1 am — I found my car stereo and speakers stolen. They were worth about Rs 7,000. I called the PCR but despite registering the case, they turned the blame on me, saying I shouldn’t have been out late. The investigating officer told us to wait for two or three days, but I am yet to receive any information from the police.”

NOEL JOHN, resident of Amrapali Apartments, IP Extension ( Noel works with a call centre in Noida)