July 13, 1998

While crime moves swiftly from Mumbai's seedy backlanes to opulent areas and glitzy malls, the police go on the defensive and the Government insists all is well.

By Smruti Koppikar

The Crawford Market police headquarters in Mumbai is humming with activity. A plain-clothes officer and two burly sub-inspectors are engaged in animated conversation, with a handcuffed scrawny youth in tow. They are on their way to court, hoping to get custody of the youngster. The officers are raring to know how he acquired a shiny new European revolver costing Rs 2 lakh.

The information could give them an invaluable clue to Mumbai's crime map. The youth, a slum-dweller, had got into a scuffle with some men who were harassing his wife. As tempers ran high, he angrily brandished the revolver. His wife intervened. Says the police officer: "If it had not been for her, a social problem would have become a law-and-order case."

Mumbai's crime graph has climbed alarmingly, with almost one murder a day. Add to that the tally of dacoities, robberies and threats, it tots up to 12,000 registered crimes for the first five months of this year. The city has seen a 13 per cent increase in murders compared to the corresponding period last year. In 1997, despite the spate of high-profile murders -- music magnate Gulshan Kumar, for one -- the crime roll totalled 32,600 cases. That, according to senior police officers, is just about Mumbai's annual average. There were 288 murders last year. Peg that against the average of nearly one murder a day in the first six months of 1998, and the picture is clear.

Murder is no longer confined to seedy backlanes; it has moved swiftly to opulent areas and glitzy malls. Crime can creep up anybody's front door. Alarmed by the spate of dacoities, jewellers are opting for state-of-the-art security systems for their showrooms. Says A.K. Agarwal, a diamond merchant: "There's no saying who will walk in the front door and hold a pistol to your head." As Chhagan Bhujbal, Congress leader, puts it, "There's a climate of criminality. Citizens feel more vulnerable than before."

The situation, he says, is grave enough for Home Minister Gopinath Munde to quit his post. Yet Munde, also the deputy chief minister, remains unruffled. His response at best has been to ignore the soaring crime graph or shuffle police officers. Chief Minister Manohar Joshi, currently engaged in a cold war with Munde, is content to leave the job to his deputy. As for the police, they seem to be running out of alibis. "It's only the people's perception that crime has increased," says Police Commissioner R.H. Mendonca.

If the escape of Dawood Ibrahim's hitman Feroz Kokani wasn't enough, eight jewellery shops were looted of ornaments worth Rs 20 crore in two weeks in April-May. The overriding feeling is that the city is being policed by a beaten force. But it's not as if the police are taking it easy. Apart from the gruelling hours policemen put in, special squads are being formed to check crime. Officers point out that crime is seasonal, with summer being the worst time. "When people are on vacation, robberies are more common," says K.L. Prasad, DCP (detection).

The Police Department's problems are legion: resource crunch, shortage of weapons, poor working conditions. Add to that the backfiring of a series of short-term methods used last year. Following a tacit Government nod, the police gunned down nearly 80 suspected criminals in "encounters". But when human-rights groups petitioned the Bombay High Court that innocent people were being liquidated, officers had to explain their action in court. Now, it's comeback time for the gangs, forcing the police to go on the defensive.

Policing, actually, is closely linked with governance. The Shiv Sena-BJP Government's first year in office (1995) saw the registration of 40,300 cases -- much above the annual average. "The Government has to address the totality of policing, not suggest short-term measures," says R.D. Tyagi, former Mumbai Police commissioner. The encounter method was mooted during his tenure in 1996, but was not thrust upon as a policy. "It's an extreme way to control crime. It usually has a backlash," he says.

Today, criminals have changed their tactics. An important one, say senior officers, is their wider reach. That's why jewellery shops in the suburbs have become targets, and middle-aged women in affluent localities sitting ducks. As Nana Chudasama, former sheriff, says, "The average Mumbaiite looks over his shoulder today; he didn't do that two years ago."

The distressing crime scene calls for some introspection on the part of the Government and long-term solutions. For D. Shivanandan, the new joint commissioner (crime), the difficult task is to find some measure immediately, failing which the Government is likely to face a no-confidence motion in the monsoon session of the Assembly beginning July 16. As if to mark his new assignment, Mohammed Jinran, an accused in the Bombay blasts case, was shot dead in Khar on June 29. The fearless attack is an indicator that it needs political and bureaucratic will to buck the trend.

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