The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Digital divide spawns economic divide

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Apr 14, 2007
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Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Digital divide spawns economic divide

Most of the arrested were found to be first-time offenders, writes K.V. Subramanya

THE ARRIVAL of IT and ITES firms to Bangalore in a big way has not only changed the economic face of the city but also led to an economic divide, propelling many youngsters into crime.

In the past four years, the city police have arrested around 6,000 people in the age group of 17 and 25 who were involved in crime. During interrogation, most of them admitted that desire for a good meal and a drink and fashionable clothes had driven them to it.

Many of these youngsters had been jealous of the flashy lifestyles of other youths, particularly employees of software companies, call centres and BPO units, earning big salaries. Unable to afford such a lavish life, these boys had taken to crime, the police say.

According to the police, on an average 1,500 people in the age group of 17 and 25 have been arrested each year during the past four years. Most were first-time offenders and were arrested on charges of snatching gold chains/mobile phones and stealing vehicles. The most sensational of such crimes was the recent murder of young software engineer Manoj Kumar of Meerut.

According to the police, it was 19-year-old Syed Mubasirullah's greed for money and a desire to lead a flamboyant life that led to the killing.

Syed, who comes from an economically backward family, worked as an attender at a software company on Bannerghatta Road, earning around Rs. 60 a day. He wanted to lead an extravagant life like his highly paid colleagues. After befriending a relatively rich Manoj, he hatched the plan to kill him and rob him of money and other valuables.

After bludgeoning Manoj to death at Shivanasamudra, Syed used the dead man's credit card to buy branded clothes at a mall here and to withdraw Rs. 18,000. The two teenagers who allegedly assisted Syed in the crime, Mohammed Yasin and Adil Baig, are also from poor families. Some time ago, the then Police Commissioner Ajai Kumar Singh had questioned some of the arrested youths on what had forced them to take to crime.

What emerged broadly were three reasons. While some said they did it for the money, others wanted to upgrade their lifestyles to have a good time, eating at expensive hotels and wearing fashionable clothes, mainly branded jeans. In some cases, the arrested youth said they took to crime to earn money to go to prostitutes. In fact, several were caught while visiting call girls.

The police, with the assistance of voluntary organisations and psychologists, have been organising counselling sessions for these youths to bring them back to the social mainstream.

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