Both the cops and the residents admit that the region has become overpopulated and traffic has increased manifold. As a result, a police chowki, manned by 26 police personnel and headed by a sub-Inspector, is way short of what is required to monitor the area. There is only one PCR van which hangs outside the PVR manned by four policemen. The next one is near Push Vihar, quite a distance away. The rest of the colony is left to God's mercy. After the incident, five PCR vans are posted in the area.

With the PVR being a crowd puller, residents feel that the attention of the police is diverted there. ``That is where all the action happens; even if they areaware of our problem, they ignore it till something as drastic as this happens,'' said one of the neighbours of the Charys, who were murdered on Thursday night.

Encroachers and unauthorised people threatening the area to accommodate them, have become of less priority to the police. Lado Sarai, Khanpur, Malviya nagar, Adchini are areas which have ample space and have grown by leaps and bounds.

That seemed to be the nemesis for the police this time, as both the cases where the Jains and the Charys were murdered, there was a striking similarity. Their houses are situated in an extremely vulnerable location, as a thoroughfare passes through it.

The F-block and M-block have three and six gates respectively which shut at 9 pm. In M-block, there is a 10-feet deep nallahnallah``We had spoken to the MCD to, at the least, build a wall around the nallah after a robbery had taken place three days ago, in the same lane where the Jains live,'' said V Gupta, a friend and neighbour of the Jains. To make matters worse, there is a garbage dump which is frequented by rag-pickers.

Right across the block and ahead of the nallah is a huge construction site, which also houses labourers who have been staying there for the last two years. The road ahead of their cluster leads to Khanpur.

In J-block also (where the Charys were murdered) there are two gates which are duly locked and manned, but the loophole here is the passage which runs through the F block from the back lane to the Mehrauli-Badarpur road. Across the flats is a park and a dried nallah, which also has a garbage dump and a foot-path over it.

The Charys were murdered near the back alley, and dragged to the park in front. The murderers must havehad an easy escape from here, as they could have parked their car on the Mehrauli-Badarpur road, after crossing the nallah. Incidentally, the street lights were not working on the day they were murdered.

``The authorities have been made aware of this a number of times. However, even the street lights have been put after the incident,''said one of the residents. Also, one constable each have been posted in front of the houses.