For the first time last year, the Mumbai police seized counterfeit American currency, with a face value of to $5 lakh.
“We have been seizing counterfeit Indian currency for years, but for the first time we have come across counterfeit U.S. dollars. This ties up with the Central agencies' inputs that Pakistan is also involved in printing fake U.S. currency,” Himanshu Roy, Mumbai Joint Commissioner of Police, said in the annual press conference here on Tuesday.
He also pointed to the trend of rising theft of motor vehicles in the city. Some 4702 motor vehicles were stolen in 2011. The corresponding figures for 2010 are 4167 thefts. The detection rate stands at an abysmal 25 per cent.
“Tavera, Scorpio, Bolero, Qualis are the vehicles stolen more often. Also, it has been noticed that during elections in big states, the demand for stolen motor vehicles goes up. Interestingly, 90 per cent of the stolen motor vehicles are white in colour,” Mr. Roy said.
In 2011, 1540 cases of stolen four-wheelers were registered. In 2010, the figure was 1160.
“In two-wheelers, Pulsar, Splendor and Passion are more easily stolen. We are in talks with the manufacturers about this,” he said.
Though there has been a drop in the traditional offences, there was an increasing trend in economic and cyber crimes.
“Tampering of source codes, hacking, sending threatening or obscene e-mails or SMS, phishing/ Nigerian fraud, these are the kinds of cyber crimes that are on the rise in the city,” Mr. Roy said.
The city saw a reduction in the number of cases registered under the Indian Penal Code (IPC). The number of cases registered in 2010 were 33,645. In 2011, the number dropped by 1454 to 32,191.
While cases of robbery and dacoity increased in 2011, those of theft, pick-pocketing, chain snatching declined. In 2010, there were 6800 cases of theft, 179 of pick-pocketing, 2044 cases of chain snatching. In 2011, the numbers dropped to 6444, 162, 1666 cases respectively.
The detection rate of robbery cases went up to 83 per cent in 2011. “It is twice the country's average,” Mr. Roy said.
There has been an 11 per cent reduction in the cases of murder registered in the city. In 2010, 227 cases were registered. There were 202 registered cases in 2011. “In New York, the number of murder cases registered in 2011 was 2400. In Mumbai it was 202. This is to give a perspective on the safety in the city,” he said. The detection rate in the murder cases has gone up by 1 per cent and was 92 per cent for 2011. “There has been a 4 per cent overall reduction in the crime rate. The detection percentage has increased by 2 per cent,” he said.
