In the last few months there has been a noticeable increase in mention of crimes occurring in Rajasthan in the national media. While incidents of crime are reported in mainstream news, it is usually a very small percentage of reported crimes that are covered and that too mostly the high profile ones. Hence it seems a little surprising that the media is taking such an amount of interest in Rajasthan, which is not generally known to be one of the more crime ridden states. There have been talks that some of this could be manufactured as a strategy as the state elections are due in the coming year. Given that Vasundhara Raje’s government has been strongly focusing on the message of development, such negative attention is bound to deflect attention away from the progressive work happening in the state.
It is true that crimes are an issue in many parts of the country and there exists a public ire against the police. It is a general perception that the police are corrupt and lack the motivation or resolve to truly fight crime and make our streets safe. While this may be true in some cases, it is not fair to hold the entire police system alone accountable for crimes that occur in the country. In fact, states like Rajasthan have taken proactive steps in combating crimes some of their successes are there for all to see.
Crime fighting is a two-pronged process. One necessity, especially in a country like ours, is to have the necessary infrastructure to detect and eventually prevent crime. Rajasthan has been taking active steps in this regard. Earlier this year, Ms Vasundhara Raje inaugurated ABHAY, Rajasthan’s New High-Tech Crime-Fighting Command Centre at Jaipur. Set-up with the help of Rajasthan’s IT department, the centre boasts of the latest in technology and equipment. ABHAY, is already spearheading progress in the police department. ABHAY’s latest test came in the form of a robbery of one Mr. Ranchod Prajapati. On receiving the complaint, the police department shared details with the Abhay Command Centre. And so began an extensive search for the accused using the CCTV feed from nearby sites and the descriptions provided by the police. With the assistance of the Forensic Lab at the Abhay Command Centre, the team was able to enhance images from the CCTV footage and zero in on the vehicle numbers used. The robbers were nabbed in due course of time and the ringleader was arrested as well.
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The incident also highlights the other critical aspect needed for successful crime fighting, resolve. One could be equipped with all the latest in technology but if the intention to do good is missing then such power can rarely be a good thing. By choosing to expend the best of resources to assist the employee of a courier company (Mr. Ranchod Prajapati), the administration has shown that their desire to help is genuine.
With the right mix of technology and resolve it is possible to go one step further, from detecting a crime to preventing it. ABHAY showed some nascent signs in that direction at the Ramganj area of Jaipur where a confrontation broke out between the police and local residents in September this year. On the 8th of September, the Ramganj police were regulating hawkers In the Ramganj area when they happened to injure a resident couple riding on a motorcycle. Things quickly took a turn for the worse with some miscreants fueling the fire and very soon a mob violence erupted with motorcycles being set ablaze and police and private vehicles being pelted by stones. Since the area has large Hindu and Muslim population and since the motorcycle rider happened to be Muslim, there was an impending danger of a full-scale riot breaking out.
Fortunately, the Ramganj area was under the surveillance of ABHAY. Getting to know of the situation very early, the Command Centre dispatched a reserve police force to Ramganj right away. Trained specially to handle such situations, the team kept into action, intimating nearby police stations and senior officers about the situation. The fire station was alerted, so was the Trauma Centre of SMS Hospital. Abhay Command Centre was at the helm of affairs, co coordinating between multiple parties and ensuring the quickest response possible. Not only this, Abhay’s role in collection and preservation of evidence will be extremely helpful as well.
These are only some examples of what happens when the right technology meets the right resolve. Unfortunately there is hardly any coverage of such events. If only more people were to know then perhaps their perception of the government and police forces would be different. For now, we could take reassurance in the fact that there are governments who are taking genuine steps in making life in our country safe and secure.
