Chandni Chowk robbery: Traders complain of minimal police deployment in market area

Traders in Chandni Chowk have expressed their dismay in the lack of proper police deployment that has led to encroachment, robberies and lawlessness in the area.

The development comes a day after a major daylight robbery took place in Chandni Chowk on Wednesday morning where four armed men entered an office, robbed ₹2.3 crore cash and fled.

Sanjay Bhargava, a businessman and president of the Sarv Vyapar Mandal in Chandni Chowk, said, “There’s not one issue here. There are multiple. Everyday, we see hundreds of drug addicts, ruffians, pickpockets and thieves. But not a single policeman is seen in the market. There’s also heavy encroachment but the police do nothing. By law, no vehicles are allowed inside the market but everyone gets their mini trucks and bikes. It’s a completely lawless area”, he said.

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“We all know most of the robberies are because outsiders or an employee (insider) is doing some sort of spying and colluding with criminal gangs. But why is it that the police can never catch them? There are police posts but the staff hardly leaves the post area. Home guards are deployed sometimes but they don’t even understand the market because they are not from Delhi. Police have no control over pickpockets, ruffians or criminal gangs working here. It’s peak festival season but deployment is so so low”, he added.

Meanwhile, the Delhi Police said sufficient staff is deployed in the market but due to extreme narrow lanes and crowded spaces, it becomes tough to control crowds and prevent such robberies.

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Yogesh Singhal, chairman of the Bullion and Jewellers Association in Kucha Mahajani, said traders were increasingly worried about their safety.

“We are all living in fear as this keeps happening at our shops as well as offices nearby. Businessmen and their employees are also targeted on bikes or in cars near Chandni Chowk. They are followed and then robbed. There are major security issues here. There’s hardly any deployment here,” he said, adding that the gang on Wednesday appeared to have chosen the morning as the market was not yet crowded.

“We keep telling local staff to increase deployment but not much is done,” he said.

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Chandni Chowk trader and Bharatiya Vyapar Mandal Udyog member Jagmohan Gotewale also echoed similar sentiments over the lack of police personnel.

“A lot of cash transactions take place in Chandni Chowk, and somewhere or the other, staff or other people leak information, which leads to such major crimes. The biggest requirement in Chandni Chowk is an increase in police patrolling. Along with that, local traders are already suffering because our business has been stifled by online shopping and restrictions in Chandni Chowk, such as cars not being allowed to run, scooters not coming in, and an excessive number of rickshaws, which has already reduced business. On top of that, after such incidents occur, people who come to buy items with cash avoid coming to Chandni Chowk out of fear that some mishap might happen to them”, Gotewale said.