Mumbai Mania

Everyday newspapers are filled with stories on robbery, rape, extortion, murder, and the list is endless. When Mumbai police said that, in a city with population of 19 million, crime rate has fallen by 40%, we all know that it can't be true.

In fact its a matter of concern because it raises questions of effective policing in the city. Figures show that the number of criminal complaints filed over the last two decades at various police stations in the city have actually dropped.

It has come down from 373 per lakh population in 1984 to 223 per lakh last year. But in the last twenty years, population has gone up by over 60%, so how can the crime rate drop?

The police department further says that twenty years ago, 35,802 cognisable complaints were filed at various police stations across the city, while last year saw only 30,197 complaints being filed at various police stations.

Even former police officers, who were in charge of different zones, have ridiculed the latest figures. Sanjay Pandey, a former IPS officer, said, "It is a known fact that if an FIR (first information report) is registered, the policeman will have to investigate the case. Under the law, a copy of the FIR has to be send to the magistrate and a charge-sheet has to be filed within a given time period. This requires lot of effort and sincerity from the part of the police."

So this simply means that the police officers refuse to file an FIR when a common citizen would go to register a complain, and harass the innocent, as a result criminals are always left scot-free. This way the police station also remains in good light.