'2012 a successful year for policing'

KATHMANDU, Jan 5: Though the incidence of violent crime declined significantly in the year 2012 as compared to previous years, Kathmandu Valley saw a surge in the other crimes such as fraud, extortion and financial crime, according to police.

Police have termed the year successful in terms of curbing crime as they were able to nab the culprits, with a few exceptions. [break]

Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Keshav Adhikari, who is spokesperson for the Nepal Police, said police were able to face the security challenges with great success despite all odds. “We faced lots of challenges concerning crime but because of the active participation of the people and also effective implementation of action plans in crime prone zones, we are satisfied with the results,” he said.

Off all the crimes in the year, the shooting dead of Justice of the Supreme Court Rana Bahadur Bam is one of the serious cases that police still remain clueless about. An official involved in probing the case said the assassination was highly organized and they had invested a huge effort in the investigations but they were still clueless.

According to the Metropolitan Police Range office in Kathmandu, the number of crimes in the Valley has declined significantly because of determined operations against criminal groups, proper management of internal hurdles, effective implementation of special security plans and active participation of the public.

DSP Dhiraj Pratap Singh, MPR office spokesperson, said that police have met with success in recent months because of proactive policing. “But we are still stumped by serious cases of violence against women and children that have been on the increase,” he added.

“Festive seasons are crime prone periods and for those periods we came up with various strategies for proactive policing, which helped us check the crime rate,” he said.

Police claimed that the Special Security Operation that was in effect in Kathmandu district from August 21 was a huge success. The operation were also implemented in Lalitpur and Bhaktapur. The Metropolitan Police Commissioner´s Office also came up with similar plans to curb crime in the Valley. The operations focused on controlling black marketeering, hooliganism, social crime, illegal use of weapons and drugs and sex-related offences.

Metropolitan Police Kathmandu nabbed over 2,400 people in the last six months and over 1,600 have been facing different charges. According to data provided by Kathmandu Metropolitan Police, Kathmandu witnessed 483 incidents of crime including 1 murder, 20 fraud cases and 25 cases related to drugs during the period July 15 to August 15.

In the period August 15 to Sepember 15, Kathmandu witnessed 459 cases including 4 murders, 20 fraud-related cases and 25 cases related to drug trafficking. In the period September 15 to October 15, the capital witnessed 536 cases including 2 murders, 36 thefts, 12 fraud-related cases, 15 kidnappings and hostage takings and 16 cases related to drug trafficking.

Likewise, between October 15 to November 15, different cases including murder, fraud, theft and drug trafficking led to 275 arrests and 194 of those arrested are facing legal charges. Similarly, from November 15 to Decembar 15, some 374 people were arrested including for extortion, fraud, theft and six cases of murder. Between December 15 to January 1, police nabbed 73 people, who have since been charged with various crimes.

Similarly, Bhaktapur and Lalitpur also faced instances of crime in similar ratios, according to police.

SSP Dilip Kumar Chaudhary, chief of Metropolitan Police Range, Bhaktapur and SSP Rajendra Man Shrestha, chief of Metropolitan Police Range, Lalitpur said that overall the year was a satisfactory one. Shrestha said, “We were able to nab highly professional criminals at the end of 2012.”

Major murder cases in Kathmandu

An unidentified laborer was murdered near Bhangal while returning from work on 27 Oct, 2012.

Banudevi Rana was murdered in her own room in Naxal by two other women on 11 Nov, 2012.

Supreme Court Justice Rana Bahadur Bam was shot dead on May 31, 2012 near Shankhamul.

APF DIG Ranjan Koirala was arrested on Jan 22, 2012 from Nagdhunga for murdering his wife Gita Dhakal.

´Let my performance speak for itself´

Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Rana Bahadur Chand

Newly appointed Chief, Metropolitan Police Range Office Kathmandu

What do you have to say about the controversy sparked off by your appointment as a MPRF chief?

I don´t have anything to say about the hues and cries surrounding my appointment. I am a professional and professionals often face such controversies during their career.

I have fought against crimes and worked hard to instill a sense of peace and security in the lives of people. I don´t have to worry about my image right now as I believe my performance will speak for itself in future.

How will you prove it?

I don´t want anybody to assume that things will change overnight. It will obviously take some time. In order to curb the crimes in the capital, I will focus on cyber crime, organized and financial crimes by coordinating with locals and the people of surrounding districts.

What are the major security threats in Kathmandu district?

As Kathmandu is the capital city, it has a lot of challenges in terms of security. The increasing isolation as a result of urbanization, lack of education, ignorance on security and technological matters and logistics crunch are major challenges in fighting crimes in Kathmandu.

Isn´t the organized crime a big challenge?

I don´t agree that it´s the biggest challenge. If our security bodies remain strong we can tamp down any kind of organized crime. There is no proper coordination among the security agencies and other stakeholders at present, therefore, we did not succeed in some of the major investigations in the past.

So the need is for the public, police and other stakeholders like intelligence, government bodies, telecommunication sectors, etc., to work together against organized crimes.

What are your upcoming plans?

Technology is now a major tool in investigating crimes, so my focus would be to upgrade the existing systems and try to engage experts from various sectors. We have very few manpower and equipments for proactive policing but I will try to make the best of what we have. I appeal to Kathmanduties to work hand in hand with the police.