Preventive arrests ordered

NEW DELHI, December 30: Police Commissioner V.N. Singh has ordered preventive arrests of known bad characters besides identification of p...

NEW DELHI, December 30: Police Commissioner V.N. Singh has ordered preventive arrests of known bad characters besides identification of potential `novice’ criminals of all districts. There has, however, been no development in the Saket murders’ investigation and the bank robbery in Najafgarh with officials repeating that they “were working on clues”. Police sources said that these arrests were being made without any substantial evidence and are “a cover-up”. Amod Kanth, Joint Commissioner of Police (Southern Range), however, justified the exercise as part of the plan prepared after the annual Delhi crime

review revealed that 93 per cent crime in this year had been committed by novices.

According to him an exercise to round up `youthful offenders’ was already being conducted and that 2,000 such offenders have been listed by the police for further questioning. Kanth said that till now the police had only been able to question those who had a crime record, but now “rough registers” will be prepared of those who show an inclination towards crime or even deceit but have never ever been booked.

The police, meanwhile, have not been able to ascertain the identity of the dismembered male body found in two gunny bags near a nalah between Sector 8 and 9, R.K. Puram at Rao Tula Ram Marg. The face of this man in his early 20s had been badly battered to avoid identification. The police said that the body has been sent for postmortem.