Crime Making Steady Inroads in Ladakh
Leh: Once a crime free society, the largely insulated Himalayan region of Ladakh has now become a haven for most serious illegalities, with the crime graph surging alarmingly over the past three years.
The police holds elements who head for the forbidding region to work in development projects and the industrial sector responsible for the worsening crime situation.
Nearly 300 contractual projects are underway in Ladakh at present, and each contractor employs 150 to 300 labourers. Besides, a large number of non-state subjects are working in the industrial sector.
Law enforcement agencies believe that the opening of the Kulu-Manali Highway too has contributed to the influx of criminal elements into Ladakh.
The senior superintendent of police for Leh says that crime like murder, abduction, rape, theft and drugs was unheard of in Ladakh until recently, but the heavy ingress of non-state labour after a road link was established with Himachal Pradesh had turned the situation alarming.
Last week the local police registered the first murder case of the year after an unidentified body was recovered behind the old bus stand.
The station house officer of the Leh police station says that 301 crime-related cases were registered last year, while the crime graph was almost non-existent just three years ago.
The police says that even tourists visiting the region are apprehensive of thefts, because robberies are reported with regularity from hotels and guest houses.
Even until 2006, the area was so safe from crime that residents would leave their homes unlocked when going out, but today no one dares to take the risk leaving his house unattended or unlocked.