And Dadwal says crime under control

The top cop made the comment at a surprise press conference called for damage control after the recent spate of shooting incidents and media reports about Delhi Police’s failure to make the city a safer place.

Repeatedly emphasising on the figures, which showed all kinds of crimes had seen a decline in the last few years, Dadwal tried to sound convincing. But he admitted the fact that they haven’t been able to trace the ‘Bunty gang’, which was on the prowl for the last one week, killing people using firearms. The failure to nail a “petty criminal”, Om Prakash alias Bunty, who recently came out of jail and formed a gang, also shows that the so-called super-efficient, modernised and tech-savvy department’s criminal intelligence system and ‘eyes and ears’ scheme were a mere eyewash.

The Delhi Police claimed that they will finish the terror of this ‘Bunty gang’ soon as all district teams, the Crime Branch and the Special Cell were mounting surveillance on it. But this has happened only after four people lost their lives and the Commissioner had to announce Rs 2.5 lakh as reward on the five-member gang. “Three out of nine cases since July 1, in which firearms were used, have involved the Bunty gang. They will be arrested soon,” said Dadwal.

When asked how a force of 60,000 officers could not trace Bunty, Dadwal said: “He is not a petty criminal. These crimes have taken place in the past too. In fact, our men have managed to solve up to 83 per cent cases this year.”

According to sources, Bunty has fled from Delhi and was hiding in western UP after a reward was declared on him. Some other small criminals were executing shooting incidents using his name, they added.

About easy availability of sophisticated weapons to criminals in Delhi, Dadwal said: “They bring firearms from outside.” Defending his department, the top cop said the ‘city is still safe to live’ and the crime scenario is ‘totally under control’. “The crime graph has gone down and it has been the lowest in the last nine years,” he added.