Udta Kashmir’: 90% thefts in Srinagar committed by `drug addicts’ 

Srinagar: Police investigations have revealed that 90 percent of the thefts in Srinagar have been committed by drug abusers.

Srinagar city has witnessed an alarming increase in thefts during the last few months. Police have successfully busted modules of burglars in the city.

Senior Superintendent of Police, Srinagar, Rakesh Balwal told The Kashmir Monitor that 90 percent of the burglars are linked to drug abuse.

“It is too much. Almost 90 percent of burglars and thieves are drug abusers. First, they start stealing money and other valuable items from home. When they are caught by their families, they start committing bigger thefts in localities,” he said.

Balwal said there are modules of thieves active in the city. “They commit robberies in shops, residential houses, and other places. We have busted many such modules and found that they are chronic drug abusers. They commit thefts once they are short of money for drugs,” he said.

Balwal said the police have urged shopkeepers and other commercial establishments to install CCTVs as a precautionary measure.

“Majority of the shopkeepers don’t have CCTVs. Installation of CCTVs makes our job easier to solve a theft case. We have personally visited the shopkeepers and urged them to install CCTV cameras to be safe from thefts,” he said.

SSP Srinagar said civil society too has a job to perform against drug addiction in Kashmir.

“Primarily the civil society should raise awareness against drug addiction through different mediums. Those who are involved in drug addiction should be boycotted if they don’t give up drug abuse after counseling,” he said.

The city police chief said cops have intensified drive against drug addicts and burglars across the valley.

Police data reveal that there has been a more than 15 percent increase in crimes in Jammu and Kashmir in 2020.

The crime rate in 2020 remained at 216.90 per one lakh population as against 189.41 per lakh population in 2019.