Police hoardings in Vasundhara Enclave fail to deter crime?
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Police hoardings in Vasundhara Enclave fail to deter crime?

East Delhi: Hoardings on streetlight poles, society gates and market places intend to alert the public and ensure their safety.

Police hoardings in Vasundhara Enclave fail to deter crime? One of the police hoardings put up at the gate of Mahesh Apartments

Delhi police hoardings have become commonplace in Vasundhara Enclave, East Delhi, and can be seen on streetlights, gates of housing societies, public urinals and market places. They have been put up after directions from CR Meena, the newly appointed SHO of New Ashok Nagar.

The idea behind such hoardings is to keep residents alert and ensure their safety in the area. One of the messages on the hoardings warns residents against mobile and chain snatchers.  Another message urges women residents to cover themselves with a duppatta (a piece of cloth) when they step out. The hoardings also ask residents to avoid using mobile phones while walking on the road or to use a footpath instead.

But have they been effective in ensuring the safety of residents?

BS Rawat, a resident of Deluxe Apartments, says, “Numerous incidents of snatching in the area has created fear among women. After every such incident, the police registers an FIR but nothing else is done. With the passage of time, the victims lose hope of recovering their belongings.”

“I do not criticise the messages displayed by the police but I don’t think the law enforcing authority is as active as they would like us to believe,” he adds.

This correspondent was witness to a mobile-snatching incident on March 31. Two bike-borne men snatched a mobile phone from a women near Mahesh Apartments. The incident took place at 3.15 pm when the woman, a resident of Deluxe Apartments, was on her way home.

One resident who noticed her crying, called the police control room (PCR), but the PCR van took 30 minutes to reach the spot.  

Later, when City Spidey spoke to the SHO, he said, “We have lodged a complaint and will nab the culprits soon.” On being asked about the message on the hoardings, he said, “Our duty is also to create awareness. It’s up to the people to decide how they respond to it.”