Bhopal (Madhya Pradesh): The intelligence wing of Bhopal police seems to have weakened. Though the accused of major thefts and robberies that took place in the city in last 25 days have been arrested, these crimes wouldn’t have occurred had the intelligence wing kept tabs on the movement of accused as most them were outsiders and had entered city to commit crime before fleeing.
In 2021, when the police commissionerate system was set up in Bhopal, a dedicated intelligence wing was also set up, which was entrusted with the responsibility to keep a track of history sheeters and thwart their efforts to commit serious crimes. However, the recent Ayodhya Nagar jewellery shop theft case, followed by Bag Sewaniya jewellery shop heist and Rachna Tower liquor company office robbery case involving an amount of Rs 15 lakh have blown the lid off the intelligence wing’s incompetence.
When Free Press investigated, it came to light that the intelligence wing is dependent on the whistle-blower network for any leads pertaining to crime. Despite all the accused caught in the recent theft and robbery cases, the wing has failed to identify to which gangs did the accused belong to, and how far have they expanded their network.
As a result, Bhopal has emerged as a haven for listed criminals belonging to other districts, who come here, commit serious crimes and flee. When contacted, deputy police commissioner (intelligence wing) Sanjay Agrawal said that the information about the network and movement of listed criminals was handled by the crime branch.
