Delhi Police is known for its inclusive schemes which involve public working in tandem with the police in reducing crimes in the society. ‘Operation Veerangana’ and ‘neighbourhood watch scheme’ are some examples wherein the police has successfully worked with the people in keeping the neighbourhoods safe.
And now, a similar initiative– Eyes and Ears scheme— has helped in saving the life of a 7-year-old boy who was kidnapped from outside a temple in Delhi’s Lodhi Colony on Thursday, February 8.
The case
According to a report by The Times of India, the cops received a complaint from a man named Balram Gautam who said that his 7-year-old nephew had gone missing from Sai Baba Mandir in Lodhi Colony on Thursday evening. Teams were formed and the police tapped into the local informants, who are a part of its eyes and ears scheme, to look for the missing boy.
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Soon after, the police got a tip-off from a woman who said that she had seen the boy being taken by an unknown man and a woman. The information was confirmed by the CCTV footage of the temple camera, which was later shared with other police teams to generate more information. The police got another tip-off from the same woman on Saturday which suggested that the kidnappers were seen at the Sai Baba temple. Soon, the police nabbed the two accused– Radha and her brother-in-law, Bhajan Singh and rescued the boy.
During their interrogation, Radha told the police that she belonged to Madhya Pradesh’s Muraina district. She was married and had two kids. However, after a dispute, she moved to her brother-in-law’s place in Delhi but was not given the custody of her children. The accused saw the kid and decided to kidnap him.
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Eyes-and-ears scheme
Delhi Police started its ‘eyes-and-ears scheme’ in January 2008 in a bid to involve public in gathering information for the police. The aim was to sensitize public stakeholders such as chowkidars, guards, vendors, parking attendants, drivers, residents and traders welfare associations in keeping a watch on suspicious people and sharing their information with the local police.
The police hold regular meeting to sensitize and motivate them. According to reports, the scheme helped the Delhi Police in solving over 300 cases in the same year it was launched.
