New Delhi, May 5 (IANS): Should you be more careful about fellow women commuters in Delhi Metro as figures furnished by the CISF, in charge of guarding the metro, show that an overwhelming majority of pickpockets nabbed this year are women?
But, if Delhi Police are to be believed, the figures provided by CISF "are grossly incorrect" and, by its own statistics, females are only a handful of the total number of 117 pickpockets arrested till date this year.
The officials of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) have claimed that 126 pickpockets have been "caught" in Delhi Metro till mid-April this year and 118 of them are women.
The Delhi police, on the other hand, have claimed that 117 pickpockets had been held till mid-April this year and only seven were females.
Delhi Police have written a letter to DIG (Deputy Inspector General)-level official of the CISF to convey its viewpoint.
The Delhi Police letter said that of the "total arrests of 117 in various IPC (Indian Penal Code) cases as well as preventive section in the year 2014, seven were female up to the date".
It further said "the details furnished by CISF to the media are grossly incorrect".
CISF officials said they had not got the Delhi Police letter so far.
Asked about the differing figures, CISF spokesperson Hemendra Singh said their figure also includes those who had been "identified" as pickpockets operating in Delhi Metro.
"Our figure of 126 includes many of those who had been identified as pick pockets. We always inform Delhi Police about them and it is up to them to take necessary action," said Singh.
Significantly, the figure on pickpockets in Delhi Metro was furnished by CISF, and a week later IANS reported about the recommendations sent by the urban development ministry to the home ministry that the city police is better equipped to handle the security of the Delhi Metro than the CISF.
The recommendation had also stated: "This will also improve overall policing in the Metro network as law and order is basically the responsibility of Delhi Police."
Around 5,000 paramilitary personnel guard Delhi Metro, officials said.
Delhi Police registers cases and probes crime incidents that take place inside the Delhi Metro premises.
In 2013, Delhi Police had arrested 101 pickpockets, including 22 females.