Jamshedpur : A spate of burglaries in the city during past few months has prompted the police to take some immediate measures to curb the menace.
Thefts not only in residential areas but also in commercial establishments have been reported as a major section of the police force was away on election duty for the last one week.
Taking a serious note of the spurt in incidents of thefts in the city during winter, the Jamshedpur Police have decided to start special police patrolling system during night in the Steel City.
A search drive is also being conducted at several parts of the city. “Everyday, one police officer from the police station concerned would keep an eye on the movement of constables deployed at different places under the system,” a police official informed.
These constables would keep an eye on suspicious elements moving in night and check them.
Newly appointed SSP of East Singhbhum Anoop T Mathew said he will soon review the law and order situation in areas under the 17 existing police stations and over two dozen thana outposts (TOPs) in and around Jamshedpur.
“We have decided to beef up night patrolling to check thefts, burglaries and other crimes. For bringing about changes in patrolling, I will have to review the existing police stations and also the TOPs so that a fresh mapping of the areas to be patrolled can be done,” Mathew.
Officials said that constables on foot would be deployed in a stretch of every one km for patrolling. Several
other constables would be deployed for the purpose, besides patrolling by the local police.
“Burglaries have increased during the winter as many families are away on vacation. Now that the election process is over, the manpower position is back to normality.
Specially constituted patrolling squads have already been deployed under the limits of the Mango and Sakchi,” said police official It has often been observed that burglars keep a watch to fix their ‘target’ in a housing colony or society before committing crimes.
People whose movements were found to be suspicious should be placed under watch. Housing societies, too, have been suggested to keep a sort of ‘neighbourhood watch’, he added.
Among other measures, records of robbers and burglars were being studied and a list of habitual offenders
being narrowed down. In the past one week, at least seven cases of burglary have been reported in the
city and the suburbs.
Most of the incidents happened in posh areas of Bistupur and Sakchi.
The senior officer said that with time, the city had expanded considerably and the population had increased exponentially, but the number and location of the police stations as well as TOPs remained the same.