NEW DELHI: The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on Monday hit out at the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the increasing incidence of crime in the national capital and demanded that the saffron party release a white paper on the crime cases recorded in Delhi until September. “We demand a white paper on the registered cases and want to know why the criminals are not being arrested yet, said labour minister and AAP Delhi convenor Gopal Rai.
Claiming that the crime rate in the city was increasing by the day, Rai said that the capital had become unsafe for the common man. “If the BJP does not reveal the reason for the increasing crimes and police inaction, AAP will organise a ‘Pol Kholo Abhiyan’ to expose them,” he said.
Describing the alleged increase in the city’s crime rate as jungle raj, Rai said that the term, once used to describe conditions in Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, was now being used for the national capital. Accusing the saffron party’s leaders of trying to bury the issue by giving random explanations for crimes, the transport minister said that the BJP was trying to hide the reality from the people. “In Delhi, only two works are under the purview of the BJP. One is sanitation, which comes under the MCDs, and the second one is law and order, which comes directly under the home ministry, led by Amit Shah,” he said.
Referring to Delhi Police records, Rai said that around 2.12 lakh cases of crime had been registered in the city this year until September. “According to the data, Delhi has seen 1,609 cases of rape and 373 murder cases. Only last month, the capital witnessed 40 murders, 35 attempts to murder, 130 robberies, 420 snatchings, 160 rapes, 200 molestations, 450 kidnappings and 3,400 cases of motor vehicle theft,” he said.
‘Corruption in police’
The minister said the main reason behind increasing crime in Delhi was corruption, which was present within the police system, and hence the BJP was raising the issue of the National Register of Citizens to divert people’s attention.