JAIPUR: After the removal of the unstated stoppage of registration of cases in Rajasthan police stations, the real picture of law and order has come to the fore. Now, the number of criminal cases have increased and there have been 42,000 cases registered more than last year in just the first 9 months of the year. This has affected the working of the police along with the decreasing percentage of challans.
In April the number of cases were 13% more than last year but increased to 32% by September.
In total 1,76,484 cases have been registered in Rajasthan in 9 months this year. Last year the number was 1,33,746 at the same time and 1,31,610 in 2017. Theft, murder and rape cases have gone up. While the rape cases have increased by 38%, theft cases have risen by 43%. Murder and attempt to murder cases have gone up by 11%.
The police have in the past delayed or ignored registering cases so that the crime record is not out of proportion. There were protests to note down cases as soon as they were reported but it failed to bring a big change. Former DGP, Kapil Garg then in a decoy operation recorded the names of the police stations which were not registering many cases. In May, the sensational case of Alwar's Thanagazi gang rape was allowed to slip by the Police and then a video was made by viral by the accused which tarnished the image of Rajasthan police all over the country.
Gehlot government took strict action after and asked for cases to be registered even with the Superintendent's office. This order opened the door to many new cases registration.
But this has also affected the police performance with decrease in Challan percentage. This has been attributed to the low number of investigation officers available. Now the police have decided to ask the constables to tend to many of these cases.
"The police force has 80,000 constables. Graduates along with those with a service of 9 years or more will be identified. After that their knowledge of the law will be tested", said a senior police officer.
But those in the know feel that the job of the constables should not be limited to just completing the cases one after another and the quality of the investigation shouldn't be compromised. Constables are of the lowest rank in the police force and thus their transparency and neutrality will be a challenge for the Police.