The Navi Mumbai police have managed to recover 51% of the goods that were stolen last year.
According to Navi Mumbai police commissioner AK Sharma, goods worth Rs50,18,75,677 were stolen in burglaries and robberies in the city in 2013, of which they managed to recover stolen goods worth Rs25,39,78,675 till December 31.
The number of burglaries in the city also went up by 11% in the same year. The police registered a total of 564 cases of burglary in 2012 as opposed to 623 cases they registered in 2013.
“With increasing number of people coming to the city from various parts of the country, its population has been witnessing a rapid increase. It has been observed that even the rich do not take required precautionary measures to prevent crimes like robbery and burglary in their homes.
Many housing societies in the city are yet to hire security guards. We suggest they hire security guards as soon as possible and also install CCTV cameras in their society compounds for their own safety,” Sharma said.
The police arrested a gang of robbers in August last year, and most members were from South India. With the arrest of that gang, according to Sharma, many robbery cases were solved in the city and no major robbery has taken place after that.
“The gang was involved in many robbery cases that took place in the city in around one-and-a-half-year. They attacked two bank officials at Belapur in December 2012 and robbed them of Rs20 lakh. The same gang targeted another cash van in 2011 in the APMC market and stole Rs55 lakh from it. They also tried to rob one more car in Vashi in 2011, but finally manage to steal only a laptop. All these cases were solved with their arrest,” he said.
According to the Sharma, certain housing societies are doing a very good job at maintaining the safety and security of its residents.
“I have been told that the NRI complex in Seawoods has taken all possible steps to prevent theft and burglaries. No such crime has taken place in that society in last one and half year,” Sharma added.
“Violent crimes in the city seems of have gone down, but we are still having a tough time in handling cheating cases. A huge number of people were cheated in Navi Mumbai by the culprits on the pretext of seats in medical or engineering colleges, or a plot or flat in the outskirts of the city.
In most cases, the victims are not careful and they approach us only after they come to know the reality. These crimes are therefore mainly breach of contract and very rarely, breach of trust and remain a grey area for the police,” he said.
Burglary stats in Navi Mumbai
Value of goods stolen in Navi Mumbai in 2013 - Rs 50,18,75,677
Value to goods recovered in Navi Mumbai in 2013 - Rs 25,39,78,675
Number of burglary cases registered in 2012 - 564
Number of burglary cases registered in 2013 - 623
