THE KILLER?

GREED!

The rash of murders in Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula in the recent past over attempts to grab property have heralded the new trend of people with white-collar background resorting to heinous offences. Greed was allegedly the driving force behind these gruesome murders which shook the conscience of the people. Ruchika M. Khanna reports.

IF the last part of the 20th century saw the breaking of family ties, emergence of nuclear families and disputes over share of ancestral property, the 21st century has ushered in the complete breakdown of familial ties wherein murders are committed of near and dear ones for pecuniary gain. The trend is rapidly gaining ground and surprisingly it is not the have-nots, the uneducated and the migrant who are resorting to this heinous crime. Rather, it is the well off and status-conscious white-collared who are killing for greed.

The situation has developed at an alarming pace. In the last few months itself, Chandigarh, Mohali and Panchkula, the hub of 'civilised gentry', have seen a rash of murders by near and dear ones with the sole motive of possessing property. Figures available from the police point out that 40 per cent of the murders in Chandigarh and its satellite townships of Panchkula and Mohali were allegedly committed with the intention of grabbing property and other material assets.

As Dr Rajesh Gill, a sociologist at Panjab University, Chandigarh, puts it, "With materialism creeping into society and social pressure taking a backseat, there is no set definition of good or bad. There is no collective consciousness in society, or social pressure that can desist an individual from taking the wrong path to satisfy his material cravings." Gruesome murders are it natural outcome.

Till date this year, as many as 41 murders were committed in Chandigarh, Panchkula and Mohali. The year saw a sudden trend towards contract killings in these cities. From the murder of Kiran Cinema General Manager Harjinder Singh in November last year to the murder of UT Executive Engineer, VK Chopra, and, more recently, the triple murder of the Aroras at Panchkula, all were allegedly committed by hired killers.

Though a large number of murders are also attributed to migrant labourers, the police have done precious little to verify the migrants. Special verification drives are launched only around Independence Day, Republic Day, or before the visit of dignitaries. Worse still, the verification rolls sent to the states like Uttar Pradesh, Orissa and Bihar as well as the neighbouring country of Nepal from where these migrants hail are never filled and returned back. This makes the verification drive a futile exercise. It is thus found that on many an occasion several hardcore criminals from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar have used this area as a safe hiding place. Police sources say that these criminals are hired for contract killings in the region. It is estimated that the population of migrants is close to four lakh in the three cities.

The fact that the three cities have highly porous entry and exit points goes to the advantage of miscreants, who can simply get out of the area of crime within 10 minutes of committing it. The satellite townships are almost like an extension of Chandigarh and this gives easy access to criminals to go from one place to the other. With the escape route into Uttaranchal via Kala Amb or to Himachal Pradesh just an hour's drive from here, it becomes difficult for the police to track down criminals. The other getaway is to Punjab areas where even if the criminals are caught the chances of conviction are dim. Punjab has a conviction rate of just 2 per cent as against the national average of six per cent. In Chandigarh, it is as high as 73 per cent.

With the population of the aged increasing in this region, the police is faced with the daunting task of controlling crime where the elderly are easy targets. In fact, the three cities are considered more like a paradise for the retired. About 60 per cent of the population in Chandigarh fall in this category. Thousands of aged people out of the total population of 14 lakh are living here alone.

The increasing number of cases of burglaries, robberies, thefts, prostitution, drug trafficking and liquor smuggling has led to fear psychosis in the minds of people. Says Wg Cdr HL Ratta (retd), president of the Senior Citizens Council, Panchkula, "People have to come together and make alternate arrangements for their personal security. With the burgeoning population of the city - courtesy the entry of hundreds of migrants from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar each day and with a growth rate of population that is almost double the national growth rate - people have to come forward and help the police help them."

His views are supported by Air Marshal Randhir Singh (retd), president of the Chandigarh Defence Colony Welfare Association, who complains that the crime rate in the region has shown an alarming increase in the past five years. "The fact that there is no inherent social structure in the three cities has added to the problem. With settlers from all over Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, there is no bonding between people, and no one likes to poke his nose into "the affairs of the Joneses". This self-centred approach comes as an encouragement to the criminals," he says.

The Air Marshal says that other than the fact that the police force of the three cities needs to have better cooperation in weeding out criminals, the public too, has to chip in its bit. "Unless the people are cooperative, you cannot stem the rot. A dedicated social worker in each sector should be entrusted to help the police in taking note of all vendors entering a sector, looking after the aged staying by themselves, etc."

The residents in the three cities have not developed any bonding with each other. The region being home to people from all over the region - Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh - besides a number of them from other parts of the country, these residents coming from different backgrounds and cultures find it difficult to bond with their immediate neighbours. Also, a substantial number of youngsters have left the city, leaving their aged parents behind. Thus, there is need to make these people more conscious of their security.

This sudden rise in the city's crime graph has also forced many of the denizens of City Beautiful to give a second thought to the safety of their houses and they are reportedly securing various hi-tech safety gadgets. The residents have a wide range of gizmos to choose from - an audio-video door phone, closed-circuit coloured televisions, burglar alarms, video door phones, a two-way bell system, etc. However, most dealers confirm that so far they have been only receiving inquiries as people generally take a lot of time to cough up the money needed to make their houses 'safe'.

‘White-collar crime is the highest in this area’

The number of cases of heinous crime in Chandigarh is less as compared to other cities of the same size - say Jalandhar or Amritsar. As against the popular notion, migrant labour is more involved in petty crimes than in heinous crimes. But white-collar crime is the highest in the region, especially taking into consideration the fact that the city has the highest literacy rate.

We are now focussing on basic policing by updating our list of history-sheeters and bad characters. In fact, these are the people who are responsible for most crimes. I have now directed all my Station House Officers (SHO's) to compile a list of all history -sheeters and nab them. Their promotion will be based on this.

This year, the crime graph has shown a downward trend. As against 30 murders committed last year, this year saw 19 murders, as against 336 burglaries last year, it was 240 burglaries this year, and as against 1500 thefts last year, this year saw about 1100 thefts. The conviction rate has gone up from 62 per cent last year to 73 per cent this year. This has been possible only because of our focussed policing and our concentration on old schemers like Neighbourhood Watch Scheme.

We have deployed two companies of CRPF jawans in order to plug 18 entry and exit points of the city. These points are manned round the clock, and regular drills are carried out to increase the reaction time of our police.

Bloody trail

* December 10, 2003 - Dr R.K. Gupta of Sri Ganga Ram Hospital, Delhi, who went missing under mysterious circumstances five days ago, was found dead on the Gurgaon-Faridabad highway. On December 5, he had left the hospital for Hotel Vasant Continental, but failed to return home. During police investigation, it was revealed that he had an affair with a 35-year-old married woman, Meenu Dhawan, who allegedly got him murdered, so that she could encash his credit cards and ward off her financial crisis.

* December 8, 2003 - Dr Katuri Lal Arora, his widowed daughter- in- law Parveen and 10-year-old grandson Anmol were found murdered in their Panchkula house around 11.30 pm. The murder was committed on the night of December 7, while the trio were fast asleep. During investigations, the needle of suspicion pointed towards Dr Arora's other sons, Dr Vinod Arora and Subhash Arora, and the latter's son, Amit. The trio, it is suspected, were uncomfortable with their fathers' inclination to will all his assets in the name of Parveen and Anmol.

* June 25, 2003 - Gurcharan Singh, Chairman of the Institute of Engineering and Technology, Bhaddal, was allegedly stabbed to death by a former employee, Satvir Singh. The victim had objected to Satvir's embezzlement of funds meant for construction and had chucked him out.

* February 17, 2003- An Executive Engineer in Chandigarh Administration, VK Chopra, was allegedly shot dead by contract killers in Mohali. They were hired by a building contractor, Parampal Singh Matharoo, and a junior colleague of Chopra, Ravinder Sharma. Matharoo was upset with Chopra for not helping him in getting business from the Chandigarh Administration.

* September 1, 2002 - A 66-year-old widow, Sheela Khanna, was found bludgeoned to death at her Sector-47 flat. She had property worth lakhs of rupees and had bequeathed the same among her four daughters. Though the case is still untraced, the police suspect that property dispute could be the motive.

Safety schemes

The police in the three cities have launched various schemes for the residents, but none of them have actually taken off. With most of these schemes failing as soon as the officer who implements them is transferred, there is little hope for the residents. The Chandigarh Police had launched Help the Aged Police Scheme (HAPS) in 1998, but a change in the top brass of the police saw the scheme go. This was followed by Neighbourhood Watch Scheme in 2001, but even though this scheme looks fine on paper its actual implementation has not been possible. The triple murder case of Aroras of Sector 4, Panchkula, on December 7, led the police to launch the Sector Panchayat scheme, wherein a committee will be set up in each sector. It will have to police their area and act as an interface between the police and residents.