CTI issues advisory to traders, alleges loot, other crime incidents on rise in Delhi

Alleging that crime, including robberies, are on the rise in Delhi, a trader's body on Wednesday advised business owners to be watchful after withdrawing cash from banks and store CCTV footage for at least a month, among other safety measures.

The Chamber of Trade and Industry (CTI) in a statement said it has issued an advisory and it will be sent to representatives of 500 market associations and 50 industrial areas.

On Tuesday, a businessman was allegedly robbed of Rs 4.5 lakh by two men in north Delhi's Kashmere Gate area when he had stopped his vehicle to take a phone call.

While on Saturday, a delivery agent and his associate were robbed of about Rs 2 lakh at gunpoint inside the Pragati Maidan tunnel here when they were on their way in a taxi to Gurugram in Haryana to deliver the money. Seven people have been arrested in the case.

The CTI alleged that loot and other crime incidents are ''on the rise in Delhi''. ''Incidents of looting and theft are increasing day by day in Delhi, and the morale of the criminals is very high,'' CTI chairman Brijesh Goyal claimed.

''In more than 80 per cent of the incidents of dacoity, robbery and theft, it is traders, shopkeepers and factory owners who have been the victims,'' the CTI claimed in the statement.

That is why today CTI has issued a security advisory for 20 lakh traders of Delhi, the statement said.

In its advisory, the traders' body has asked shopkeepers and business owners to be alert after withdrawing cash from banks and ensure no one is following them.

It also suggested them to put electronic chip among bundles of notes so that their location can be traced by police in case a robbery occurs.

Keep changing the colour of bags, departure time and route to be taken to mislead criminals, the advisory read.

Call police and members of respective market or factory associations immediately in case of an incident, it said.

The CTI also asked them to be watchful while in a taxi or an auto-rickshaw.

It advised that a shopkeeper should keep their shop's front illuminated at night, and take precautions by installing one or two CCTV cameras and keep their recording for a month.

The advisory read any illegal encroachment around a market should be informed to the nearest police station and civic authorities, and ''market associations and thana (police station) committee meetings'' should be held every month.