Chandigarh, March 22: The Punjab and Haryana high court on Wednesday summoned UT senior superintendent of police (SSP) Nilambari Vijay Jagdale while putting the Union home secretary on notice for April 4 over spurt in snatching cases in the city.
The high court (HC) bench of justices AK Mittal and Anupinder Singh Grewal also trashed the report submitted by the UT police, wherein the department had listed out reasons behind the rise in crime and efforts being made to curb it. As many as 73 snatchings have been reported in the city this year, with the police managing to solve only 32 cases so far. Motorcycle-borne miscreants have mostly been targeting elderly women, leaving them injured while snatching their gold chains.
The court has been hearing a public interest litigation (PIL) filed by a lawyer, HC Arora, who had demanded that police be directed to take steps to curb snatchings. Even during the last hearing, the court had come down heavily on police, telling them to “have a heart” and empathise with the victims.
Listing out reasons for the spurt in crime in the UT, Chandigarh Police told the court that after Punjab launched a crackdown on drug addicts, they are making a beeline for the city. Police said most of the accused are repeat offenders and indulge in substance abuse. Raising concern on the existing law, police said those arrested easily get bail and many times the sureties turn out to be fake.
Police also attributed the crime to festive season and weddings, when people “come out in their best finery”.
The high court took note of a report carried in Hindustan Times on Wednesday, which stated that the Union home ministry is sitting on a proposal to increase punishment for snatching from three years to up to 10 years and making the offence non-bailable.
The UT police last year had made the recommendation to the administration last year. A proposal was sent to the Centre in April. The draft recommendations were based on the amendments made by Punjab in laws related to snatching in 2010. Even Haryana had made the amendment later.
At this stage, the HC issued notice to Union home secretary and sought reply by April 4.
The police also told court that against the requirement of 15,000 cameras in the city, 14,000 have been installed by residents. Police also said that out of 947 cases reported in past five years, 643 have been solved.
Source Hindustan Times
