With the increase in business and population, there has been a corresponding rise in crime in the Six mile area, in the southern part of Guwahati.
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If during the day snatchers are on the prowl looking for chains and mobile phones, the bigger boys emerge as night descends. It’s now time to rip off copper wires and pipes from air conditioners; water pumps, pipes and taps etc make up the rest of the stealing list. Night is also time for drug peddling and illegal activities involving women.
Six mile has very good road connectivity to different parts of the city like Noonmati through VIP Road, Meghalaya and Jalukbari i.e. NH-27 through Khanapara and to GS Road--the main commercial corridor of Guwahati city. This connectivity makes the area a suitable residential locality with mid-rise and low-rise buildings as well as a business hub for hotels with bars and restaurants catering to a mixed clientele.
Local residents complain that regular theft of copper wires and piping from air conditioners has left them at their wits’ end, and in distress. Every 2 to 3 days, 2 to 3 houses in each bye-lane fall victim. Surveillance cameras are damaged, disabled, or covered during such activities. These copper wires are sold to designated buyers at negotiable prices.
An elderly Six mile resident, who was once a GMC Councillor residing on Six mile-Khanapara Road expressed his resentment and concern over the changing crime situation in the area.
Individuals with very low income are often lured and used for the trafficking of drugs to other localities, persons etc. As the very busy shops, eateries, fruit and vegetable sellers and hawkers wind down their daily business by 11/11.30 at night, the deserted areas under flyovers are used for such activities. Although the individuals apprehended by authorities are usually from among the poor, large drug trafficking racket remains involved in the process. In August itself, in two cases, STF Assam seized heroin weighing 12 gms at Panjabari-Six mile Road under Satgaon Police Station and heroin weighing 31 gms at adjoining Jayanagar, under Dispur Police Station.
According to the residents of the nearby Rukminigaon area, certain small shops that sell cigarettes, tobacco etc. are only open during the night, which attracts commuters, and the area often witnesses chaos and quarrels among people, many of whom are inebriated.
Hooliganism is common late at night on Downtown-Khanapara Road. Activities related to women and drugs are common along Six mile-Panjabari road at night as the road is isolated with lots of offices and commercial shops on it.
According to an official of Dispur Police Station, six patrolling vehicles are deployed in the area at night. He said local people should also be alert and cooperate with the authorities to check crime.