Cops’ latest tool to fight crime: Computer chips

The high-on-technology top cops will use radio frequency identification (RFID) chips to ensure streets are patrolled better.

Here’s how the system - to be implemented within a fortnight - will work: These chips are basically tracking devices, which use radio frequency identification to monitor places and people.

This hi-tech control room has been set up by DCP KMM Prasanna at Bandra Police Station to track his officers on the field

Devices carrying these chips will be installed at public parks, railway stations, schools, banks, housing colonies and streets.

The chips will also act as card readers for the officers on patrol. Using special handsets, the patrol officers can record their presence in a particular area.

The radio frequency idea is being introduced by DCP (Zone 11) Mahesh Patil.

“We will start with two chips per area. Patrol officers will be given a handset that the chips will record. It’s like card readers in office, where you punch in your in and out timings.”

This idea is the result of the police top brass brainstorming of the past several weeks. Security in the streets was relaxed post the World Cup final here on April 2.

That resulted in a rise in street crime such as chain snatching. Even incidents of house break-ins reported a rise, forcing the police top brass in a huddle.

Patil said, “Technology is a useful tool in fighting crime. We did a comprehensive study of the time of crime. For instance, chain snatchers mostly target parks in the mornings and evenings, and streets in the evenings. Also, officers know they too are being watched. This will only result in better patrolling.”

Then there is DCP K M M Prasanna from Zone 9, who has come up with a hi-tech control room at Bandra Police Station to track his officers on the field.

CCTV cameras installed in the streets will be connected to this special control room. This will result in a quicker response to trouble, Prasanna said.

“The cameras will help us monitor the streets 24x7. We can rush in police teams at the crime scene a lot quicker,” he said.

Sources said the idea is also a result of allegations of the cops refusing to take down complaints. “Such officers will have no choice in the face of the crime footage,” a senior cop said.

Exposed Racker Of E- Ticketing (Cinema) Fraud

Cyber Crime Investigation  Cell, C.B.,C.I.D., Mumbai had detected a racket wherein educated  cyber criminals have adopted the innovative  way of E-Cheating by using the details of stolen Credit Cards.

          One complaint had received from Head of IT department of Fame Adlabs regarding booking of e-tickets.The case was registered to the Oshiwara police station  u/s 420 IPC vide C.R. No. 466 /2007  Under the directions of Shri. Rakesh Maria,  Jt Comm Of Police (Crime) and Shri. Sanjay Mohite, Deputy Comm Of police( Prev) enquiries were conducted. the culprits were arrested on 18/10/2007.
         During the Investigation it is  revealed that they have made the fraud through internet. The criminals had used the facilities like mobile phones, Internet utilities and booked tickets through internet and sold them personally to the  theatre viewers in the  premises of theatre. Further investigation is being carried out by cyber crime investigation cell as it is suspected that there is big racket involved in this E-Ticketing (Cinema) fraud.

Hit and run case ends life of a teenaged girl

Ina gruesome incident, a teenaged girl, who was riding pillion, was killed on the spot in a hit-and-run on the Western Express Highway in Goregaon (E) Monday . Police said her friend, who was riding the motorcycle, escaped with minor injuries.

The accident occurred when an Alto rammed into the motorcycle the victims were riding. The driver of the car, a maroon Alto, did not even stop to help the victims, the police said. Minutes before, the same vehicle ran over a pedestrian on the highway.

The deceased, Sylvia Mcwan (17), was a Std-XI distance learning student at Mumbai University and lived with her father, grandmother and two siblings at Virar.

While Sylvia and her friend Ankush Rathod (24) were returning after attending a seminar, an Alto came up from behind and tried to overtake the motorcycle . The driver, however, lost control over his car and hit the bike. The motorcycle skidded and Sylvia was flung off her seat. She landed on the road, her head banging against the divider. She died on the spot, the police said.

The Goregaon (E) police are questioning witnesses and trying to trace the driver. The pedestrian who was killed minutes earlier is yet to be identified. His body has been sent to the Borivli post-mortem centre, an officer said.

Crime: Mindless Mumbai allows woman to lie naked

Mumbai is sometimes described as a metro without a mind..
A day after Durga puja and the victory of good over evil, there has been a spate of crime against women. A hapless disoriented 20-year-old woman was allowed to lie naked for hours on a Mumbai street even as people were busy taking out processions. Nobody cared. And there is more – of a gruesome hit and run case in Mumbai, harassment and murder.

Mumbai is sometimes described as a metro without a mind. People are so busy that they hardly find time for caring or being concerned for others. And on Monday night, as the festival lights were still on, Mumbai just showed its dark and heartless face when a semi-conscious , stark naked woman was allowed to lie bang on a busy road in Powai for several hours. No one cared, no one bothered and none were concerned or moved.

The woman was in her 20s and was homeless. She was found lying, ironically enough, near the upmarket Hiranandani Gardens complex. People were found coming back after the festivities or a grand dinner; some were out on a post-dinner walk. But nobody cared to help or enquire about the problem of the hapless woman.

Ironically, even as she lay on Central Avenue Road, a loud musical procession of Durga devotees passed by for immersion at Powai Lake.

Sources said that the woman looked dazed and was sitting on the pavement since evening. At 9 pm, she lost whatever little energy she had and had to sprawl on the road naked.

Finally, a local shop assistant partially covered her body with a gunny sack. She had to spend a few more hours before some residents learned of the hapless girl and came to her rescue. They tried calling the police and a van arrived by 11.40 pm and picked her up in a stretcher. Strangely enough, instead of taking her to a hospital, the police took her to the Powai police station.

The police said that the girl appeared mentally retarded and abandoned. They are planning to shift her to a woman's home in Chembur.

To be fair, a few women did come to help the girl, but that was a good five hours later.

Crime branch arrests Corporator’s brother

Police on Monday said although there had been an increase in the number of crime cases in the city last year, the detection rate also witnessed an uptrend.

"There was increase in crime with population going up and more and more people coming in the city but detection must also take place ", Sanjeev Dayal, Commissioner of Mumbai Police said addressing the annual press briefing.

In the crime chart released by the Mumbai police comparing the crime in the city between 2009 and 2010, dacoity cases have decreased in the city though serious crime like murder, attempt to murder, robbery, chain snatching, crime against women increased in 2010.

As against the 33,645 cases, under Indian Penal Code, registered in the city last year, the police detected 18,646 cases while in 2009 as against 30,987 cases registered only 17, 509 cases were detected.

There were 199 extortion cases last year against 198 in 2009. While 309 persons were arrested in 2009 for extortion, in 2010, the number stood at 313.

There were eight shoot outs by criminals, one up over 2009.

The city police booked 54 accused under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act last year as against 52 in 2009.

The city also saw slight increase in cases like rape of minors, molestation, dowry deaths, while there was a decline in dowry related suicides and harassment for dowry. 

MID DAY Crime Editor J Dey shot dead in Mumbai

Mid Day Crime Editor J Dey was killed in Powai area here on Saturday. J Dey was shot dead in broad daylight on Saturday by four unidentified bike-borne persons who pumped five bullets on him from behind in suburban Powai.

Jyoti Dey (56), who was working as Editor (Special Investigation), was shot dead by unidentified persons in Powai at 1530 hours, Joint Police Commissioner (Law & Order) Rajnish Seth said.

According to Additional Police Commissioner Vishwas Nagre Patil, four persons on two bikes fired a number of rounds at Dey, who was also riding a bike, from behind this afternoon in Hiranandani area of Powai.

Following this, he was rushed to nearby Hiranandani hospital where he was declared dead, Patil said.

The shooters escaped from the spot after firing fiverounds, police said, adding further probe was on.

Police sources however said Dey, who recently ran a series of news reports on oil mafia, had received threats from anti-social elements.

Mid-Day Editor expresses shock

Mid-Day Editor Sachin Kalbaug said the killing of Dey was a tremendous loss to the newspaper. Kalbag sad Dey was called a 'guru' by budding crime reporters for his expertise in investigative reporting.

Sachin Kalbaug said the Mid-Day newsroom was in a state of shock.

"Dey was one of the senior most journalist, a well known crime reporter of Mumbai. His loss is a tremendous loss to newspaper," he said.

"We are in a state of complete shock. It is too early to say why this has happened and how it happened. No indications that he was working on a big story now which would have made anyone uncomfortable.”

"Yes, he has broken big stories all his life. He is in journalism for more than two decades now. Only police would tell you which underworld person, if at all, you know is responsible for his over two decades of investigation reporting....It is not for me to speculate, I can tell you that he was not doing any big story now," Kalbaug said.

Dey has worked with major newspapers including Indian Express and Hindustan Times.

Last month, tabloid employee and veteran journalist Tarakant Dwivedi alias Akela was arrested by the Government Railway Police (GRP) under relevant sections of Indian Penal Code and Official Secret Act after he had allegedly entered the government armoury in CST railway station and filed a news report about poor handling of armoury June last year.

Subsequently, the tabloid's employees headed by Dey and various journalist associations met Home Minister RR Patil, lodging protest against the police action on Akela and termed the action as a grievous assault on the freedom of the press.

Govt takes Dey killing very seriously: Patil

Maharashtra Home Minister R R Patil said the government has taken the killing of senior journalist J Dey "very seriously" and senior police officials have been asked to immediately nab the culprits.

"I have spoken to the Mumbai Police Commissioner, and and Joint Commissioner (Crime) who are visiting the scene of crime. I have given instructions that the culprits be arrested as soon as possible," Patil said, adding "Nobody will be spared."

The motive behind the murder would be known only after a preliminary inquiry, he said.

The Home Minister said he knew J Dey as a good and senior crime reporter.

Dey wasn't blackmailing anyone: Bhujbal    

Maharashtra PWD Minister Chhagan Bhujbal said that crime journalist J Dey, who was killed
in Mumbai, did not target any gang or oil mafia in particular and was not "blackmailing" anyone.

Asked if the killing could be linked to elements from the underworld or the oil mafia, Bhujbal, a former home minister, said, "Dey was a very honest person. He used to write on underworld. He was not targeting anyone in particular, whether any gang or any (oil) mafia."

"Dey was not blackmailing anyone. He was a very honest person. I never imagined this would happen to him," he said.

"We are very much shocked to hear this tragic news," Bhujbal said. He recalled having  attended the book release of 'Zero Dial', written by Dey about informers, three months
ago.

"I think police will come to know in some time why he was killed," Bhujbal said.

Scribe killing attack on press: Ambika
Condemning the killing of a senior journalist of 'Mid-Day', Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni said no civilised society can tolerate this kind of attack on the
freedom of the press.

"This act has challenged the freedom of press and the perusal of objective reporting. This incident is a sign of insanity perpetuated by mindless individuals in which innocent
citizens are killed. No civilised society can tolerate this kind of attack on freedom of press," she said in a condolence message in Delhi.

She expressed confidence the "Home Minister of Maharashtra will live up to his assurance of tracking down the assailants in the shortest possible time".

Editors guild condoles journalist death

Condoling the death of J Dey in Mumbai, the Editors Guild of India demanded the Maharashtra government to take immediate steps to ensure that the killers are brought to
justice.

"The Editors Guild deplores the law enforcement agencies' inability to protect the life of a journalist engaged in carrying out his professional duties at great risk to himself," Guild president T N Ninan and Secretary Coomi Kapoor said in a statement in Delhi.

They said initial reports suggest that the crime mafia may have been behind the killing.

Remembering Dey as a "courageous reporter" who undertook to expose the underworld, they said, "as editor of the special investigation team of the Midday newspaper and earlier with Indian Express newspaper, he had relentlessly exposed Mumbai's criminal mafia despite numerous threats to his life."

"The Guild demands that the state authorities speedily bring Dey's killers to justice," Ninan and Kapoor said.

Mamata offers condolence to scribe’s family

Meanwhile, Mamata Banerjee has condemned the killing of a journalist in Mumbai and said the death would not silence their voices.

"I have heard that he penned a book against the mafia a month ago. Did he have to pay for his life for being brave in his writing? Killing journalists will not stop their voices," the chief minister said of the shooting dead of Editor, Special Investigation Mid-day, Jyoti Dey.

Banerjee conveyed her condolences to the members of the bereaved journalist's family.

It’s curtains for one of Mumbai’s most sensational crime

The curtains finally came down Thursday on one of the most sensational crimes of passion that hit trhe city in recent times involving a former naval officer, his starlet girlfriend and a television executive, who was killed in 2008.

Mumbai Sessions Court Judge M.W. Chandwani Thursday pronounced the judgment holding former naval officer Emile Jerome Mathew guilty of culpable homicide of television producer Neeraj Grover.

Mathew’s actress girlfriend Mariah Monica Susairaj was held guilty of destroying evidence in the killing at her apartment in Dheeraj Solitaire building in the northern suburb of Malad.

The former naval officer’s lawyer Abdul Wahab Khan said that during the trial, the court examined 66 witnesses and hundreds of pages of evidence and police investigation reports.

Around 7 a.m. May 7, 2008, Mathew suddenly came from Kochi, where he was posted, to Mariah’s home and found Grover naked in her bedroom.

According to prosecution, an angry Mathew abused and assaulted Grover and stabbed him with a kitchen knife.

Mariah told police that the first stab was so violent that Grover’s intestines spilled onto the floor. Mathew kept kicking and stabbing Grover even as Mariad watched in horror but did not shout for help.

The next morning, Mariah went to Hypercity shopping mall and bought a huge suitcase, air-fresheners, plastic bags and bed-sheets from there.

Mathew and Mariah chopped Grover’s body into pieces and stuffed these into the bag, along with the blood-stained bedsheets and curtains in her home.

Later that afternoon, Mariah borrowed a friend’s car, and along with Mathew placed the bag into the car and drove off to Manor, in adjoining Thane district, on the Mumbai-Ahmedabad highway.

At an isolated spot in the dense forest, they burnt Grover’s body pieces and other articles before returning home around 9.30 p.m.

However, unknown to them, a building watchman had seen them putting the bag in the car. He later revealed this to police.

This and other developments during police investigations blew the lid off the crime and the duo was arrested May 21.

Mathew revealed that he stabbed Grover because he felt the TV executive was merely “using” Mariah and would not give her any role in television serials.

Mariah had earlier caught Mathew having an affair with a Bangalore-based woman and had confronted him. Mathew confessed to his affair with a 25-year old woman who was his schoolmate in Mysore.

After Mariah threw a tantrum over Mathew’s six-month affair, he apologised and promised to end it – and lived up to his promise.

The actress also studied in the same school but was two years senior to Mathew. She was introduced to Mathew by her younger sister, who was his classmate.

Mariah came to Mumbai barely three months before the killing and was introduced to Grover through a common friend, working as a cameraman. They remained in touch over phone.

Soon they started meeting regularly at a coffee shop in north Mumbai’s Oshiwara, a cluster of many television and film production houses.

She also went and lived with Grover at his Andheri flat for a few days and he was a regular visitor to her home in Malad.