Nagpur: Barely six hours after Chief Minister of the State Devendra Fadnavis asked people not to malign the name of Nagpur as crime capital, in the last 72 hours, there were as many as 6 murders in the city.
While addressing media personnel during a press meet held on December 19, 2016, Joint Commissioner of Police Santosh Rastogi said that not all crimes are preventable. If a spontaneous fight between two persons (both with no previous criminal record) culminates in a murder, it is hardly preventable by the police.
While giving details of the six cases, he surmised that almost all the murders were committed at a spur of a moment. Except for 2-3 accused all the other accused have no previous history. He went on to add that the involvement of juvenile delinquents is more significantly observed and said that they were more violent and aggressive. He expressed how the cops cannot take any action or even investigate from these juvenile delinquents.
While answering to a question on whether the youth have lost the fear of law, Jt CP Santosh Rastogi said that the fear of law existed in the past, is present even today and will continue to be in the minds of the youth. However, while other crimes can be preventable, murder committed in a fight that arises on the spurt of the moment cannot be prevented. He went on to add that police cannot intervene in the house-hold crimes between husbands and wives too are
While defending the cops, Santosh Rastogi said that every Deputy Commissioners of Police working in different zones are working with “Cutting Edge” precision and efficiency. Whenever any crime occurs, the DCP investigates and evaluates from all angles. He leaves no stone unturned. However, he vehemently added that the effectiveness of Nagpur Police law enforcement can work only with the help of the citizens’ cooperation in preventing crime.
The six murders were reported from the jurisdictions of Ambazhari, Panchpaoli, Jaripatka (two-cases), Nandanwan and Hudkeshwar Police Stations. All the accused involved in the six murders were arrested. Twenty three accused were arrested within a few hours of the commission of the crimes. Three of the accused are said to be juvenile delinquents.
Surprisingly, while speaking about the presence of gangs in the city, Jt CP Santosh Rastogi said that there are 5 said that there are 550 identified gang members throughout the city. They and their gang members are being tracked and kept watch over.
While answering to a question on the number of gun licenses issued from outside the state, Santosh Rastogi said that there are 450 licenses which has been issued from outside the state but has been registered in the city. However, the Nagpur Crime Branch has already sent a letter to the issuing authorities to verify and report the authenticity of the licenses. However in-spite of passing of six months, no letter has received any response. Most of the Gun Licenses issued are from North East and UP-Bihar.
The other senior Police Officials who addressed the media persons and answered to queries on the crimes committed within their zones includes Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime) Ranjan Sharma, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone-V) Abhinash Kumar, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone-IV) Shridhar, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone-III) Rajkumar, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone-II) Kalasagar and Deputy Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Smarthna Patil.
