Delhi’s Law-and-Order Challenge: Are Criminals Losing Their Fear of the Law? A spate of violent crimes, a musician’s brutal killing, a daylight shooting and a ₹2.5-crore burglary raise uncomfortable questions about safety in the national capital

By Sunil Negi

NEW DELHI | September 9, 2026
Delhi is once again facing a deeply uncomfortable question: are ordinary citizens becoming increasingly vulnerable to violence and crime, particularly after dark, in the national capital?
The question has acquired urgency after a series of disturbing incidents in and around Delhi in recent days—from the brutal killing of a well-known Manipuri musician in South Delhi and the shooting of a property dealer in Narela to a ₹2.5-crore burglary in Timarpur and the continuing fallout of a teenage girl’s alleged gang rape inside a moving bus travelling from Greater Noida towards Delhi.
At the same time, the Delhi Police has mounted several major enforcement drives, arresting street criminals and proclaimed offenders. That response deserves recognition. But the larger issue remains: is policing succeeding in preventing crimes, or is it increasingly becoming reactive—acting decisively only after a crime has occurred?

The murder of Chongtham Vikram Singh, a respected Manipuri musician and teacher, has perhaps caused the greatest shock.
Singh, 55, was allegedly beaten to death late Sunday night in the Kilokari/Sunlight Colony area of southeast Delhi after objecting to a group of men making noise outside his home. According to reports, the confrontation escalated rapidly and Singh was chased and assaulted. He later died from injuries sustained in the attack. Delhi Police have arrested seven adults and apprehended a juvenile in connection with the case.
The tragedy becomes even more disturbing because the alleged trigger was so trivial: a resident asking people outside his home to reduce the noise.
CCTV footage reportedly shows the accused leaving the building and the victim’s family carrying him out roughly ten minutes later.
The police deserve credit for identifying and apprehending the suspects swiftly. But the question being asked by residents is a different one:
Where was preventive policing when a group of allegedly intoxicated young men were creating a disturbance late at night?
It would be unfair to conclude, without evidence, that there was no police patrol in the vicinity. But the incident nevertheless raises legitimate questions about night-time patrolling, response times, beat policing and surveillance in residential pockets.
There is also a wider concern. Reports have raised the possibility that racial abuse may have been involved, although that aspect remains under investigation.
For Delhi’s large Northeast Indian population, therefore, this is not merely a murder case. It is also a question of whether people from every part of India can feel equally secure in the capital.
Narela shooting: a property dealer gunned down
Another frightening incident occurred in Narela, where 42-year-old property dealer Pramod Kumar was shot dead outside a gym in the morning.
Police said he was attacked by armed assailants near a gym in Bakner. Reports said around 15 empty cartridges were recovered and investigators examined possible gang or extortion angles.
For several days, the alleged shooters remained at large, triggering protests by local residents and the victim’s family demanding swift arrests.

By September 9, however, police announced that three alleged members of the Himanshu Bhau gang, including a juvenile, had been apprehended following an encounter. Police said the suspects fired at the police team during the operation.
This episode illustrates both sides of the Delhi policing story: the vulnerability exposed by the murder and the subsequent ability of investigators to track down suspects.
But for citizens, prevention matters as much as detection.

Crime is not confined to street violence.
A businessman’s residence in Timarpur was allegedly burgled of cash, gold and diamond jewellery worth approximately ₹2.5 crore while the family was abroad. Two domestic helps who allegedly had access to the house have emerged as prime suspects and were reported to be absconding.
Such cases underline another vulnerability of metropolitan life: houses can become targets when criminals obtain information about the occupants’ movements, valuables and access arrangements.
The incident also demonstrates why residential security cannot depend entirely upon locks and CCTV cameras. Neighbourhood surveillance, police verification, domestic-worker verification and rapid response systems have to work together.

Operation Sajag: police response is visible
It would be wrong, however, to paint the Delhi Police only in negative colours.
Under Operation Sajag, a 72-hour anti-crime drive, police apprehended 39 people, including alleged burglars, robbers, snatchers, drug peddlers, bootleggers and gamblers. Police said the operation also helped detect or solve 15 cases involving theft and motor-vehicle theft.

Police reported recovery of stolen mobile phones, jewellery, cash, narcotics, illicit liquor, knives and vehicles.
Such drives are necessary. But they should not become occasional campaigns conducted after public anxiety rises. They need to become part of permanent, intelligence-led policing.

Operation Chakravyuh: 81 proclaimed offenders arrested
A second encouraging development came from West Delhi.
Under Operation Chakravyuh, a 48-hour campaign involving 61 police teams, Delhi Police said 81 proclaimed offenders were arrested, while the status of 161 others was verified. Police said 149 proclaimed offenders were traced; some were already in custody and others were found to be deceased.

This is important because habitual offenders and absconders can pose a disproportionate threat to public safety.
But the ultimate test is whether such operations reduce repeat offending and prevent the next crime, rather than simply increasing arrest figures.

The recent debate over Delhi policing also cannot be separated from the controversial violence surrounding the July 20 CJP protest at Jantar Mantar.
The incident is outside the strict 15-day window, but its repercussions continue to shape public perceptions of policing.
Delhi Police sources said 130 police personnel and around 65 students were injured during the July 20 clashes, with 15 FIRs registered. Other reports put the number of injured protesters higher, while allegations of excessive police force and the use of pellet-like projectiles have also been disputed by the police.
In other words, there are two legitimate questions: protesters must not attack police personnel, and police must exercise force lawfully, proportionately and transparently.
A democratic police force needs not merely the power to enforce the law but also public legitimacy.
The subsequent controversy involving influencer Swatantra Bhardwaj, who was accused of assaulting a protester’s father and whose own podcast remarks reportedly triggered renewed scrutiny, further complicated the debate. Delhi Police subsequently arrested him, and a court later extended his judicial custody.
The lesson is straightforward:
No person—politically connected, socially influential, religiously assertive or otherwise—can be perceived as being above the law.
The law has to be seen to operate equally.

Perhaps the most painful reminder of Delhi’s unresolved safety challenges is the alleged gang rape of a teenage girl inside a moving sleeper bus travelling from Greater Noida towards Kashmere Gate.
The case involved a girl aged 16/17 according to different reports, and the alleged assault took place after she boarded the bus around Greater Noida’s Pari Chowk. The bus travelled approximately 47 km towards Delhi without being stopped at a police checkpoint, according to reports. The driver and conductor were arrested.

Even more disturbing, investigators reportedly found that the bus had 11 traffic challans, including seven issued in July, and that its CCTV system was reportedly non-functional. Heavy curtains allegedly restricted visibility into the passenger compartment.

The Nirbhaya tragedy transformed India’s laws, policing philosophy and public consciousness. Yet a passenger bus carrying a vulnerable teenager could allegedly travel dozens of kilometres without meaningful security intervention.
That demands more than arrests.
It demands accountability for the regulatory and monitoring system itself.

The national capital is not an ordinary city.
Delhi houses Parliament, the Supreme Court, the Union government, diplomatic missions and millions of citizens who come here from every corner of India in search of employment, education and opportunity.
Its law-and-order system therefore carries a symbolic responsibility far beyond its geographical boundaries.
If citizens feel unsafe walking home at night, if parents fear sending daughters onto public transport, if residents hesitate to confront public disorder because they fear violence, or if influential people are perceived as capable of escaping immediate police action, the problem is bigger than individual crimes. It becomes a crisis of confidence in the rule of law.
At the same time, the Delhi Police should not be unfairly demonised. Its personnel face difficult circumstances, enormous crowds, political demonstrations, organised gangs, street crime and an exceptionally dense urban environment. The police injuries during the Jantar Mantar clashes themselves demonstrate the risks officers face.
The brutal killing of Chongtham Vikram Singh should not become merely another headline that disappears after the arrests.
The Narela shooting should not become merely another gang case.
The ₹2.5-crore burglary should not be forgotten after the stolen property is recovered.
And the moving-bus rape case should not be remembered only because it evokes Nirbhaya.

Criminals must fear the certainty of lawful consequences—not because the police inspire terror, but because the rule of law is certain, swift and impartial.
At the same time, innocent citizens must feel that the police are visible, approachable and dependable.
That is the balance Delhi urgently needs.
The real measure of law and order is not the number of arrests made after a crime. It is the number of citizens who can return home safely without ever becoming a crime statistic.
And in the national capital of India, that must be non-negotiable.