Underworld threats, crimes reared ugly heads in 2007
The year 2007 saw the might of the underworld return to the fore again in the metropolis with threats to builders, Bollywood personalities and their indirect involvement in Slum Rehabilitation (SRA) projects, despite the police having killed several aides to the dons in encounters in the year gone by.
The crime graph in the commercial capital of the country shot up by 10-15 per cent, particularly in cases related to robbery, house breaking, thefts, rape and economic offences while detection of cases centered around 50 per cent.
The Police Department went through some rough patches which included grilling of its personnel in fake passport cases, alleged nexus with the underworld, escape of undertrials from custody, helping builders file bogus complaints against rival builders and so on.
It was for the first time in the history of the Mumbai Police that Deputy Chief Minister R R Patil approved the proposal for compulsory retirement of four senior IPS officers for poor performance after examination of their official records since they joined, sending shockwaves through the department.
The underworld also sent threats to Bollywood personalities like Shah Rukh Khan, Mahesh Bhatt, his brother Mukesh and daughter Pooja.
Leading diamond merchant and film financier Bharat Shah was threatened with dire consequences if he mentioned his claim to Royal Palm property.
The outgoing year also witnessed the Police Department launching a massive drive to prevent killings of innocent people, particularly labourers, due to rash and negligent driving by drunk drivers at night. Hundreds of drivers and vehicle owners were sent to prison to serve a period ranging from a day to three weeks on the orders of the Magistrate Courts.
The Police Department suffered a setback when the Government ordered a probe into the allegation of disproportionate assets against Director General of Police P S Pasricha. The DGP was, however, given a clean chit by the Inquiry Committee and along with City Police Commissioner D N Jadhav, given three months extension in their services. The duo were supposed to retire on November 30 this year.
— UNI
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