Apart from these issues which will continue to haunt the police for a long time, there has been little success as far as improving the chaotic traffic situation is concerned. The oft-repeated resolve to contain liquor flow seems to have diminished, and after a flurry of raids on the red light area, a genuine attempt to ``close down'' the 300-year-old area seems to have softened.

City police commissioner Kuldip Sharma however maintains that the reduction in crime -- which is down 46.5 per cent since January this year -- has put fear into the minds of criminals, who now think twice before committing crimes. The commissioner, while speaking to Express Newsline on Tuesday, said that motor accidents, vehicle thefts, and economic offences still required to be brought under control although there was a reduction in these crimes over the past seven months. ``The crime situation in the city is currently well under control,'' he asserted.

ACP I C Raj and DCB PI M G Kaneriya, who are supervising investigations in the Satbhaya case, said that a chargesheet has not been filed as ``adequate evidence was still required''. Chandrakant Kahar, the prime accused in the case, along with Naresh Patel and Kallu Dagga -- all of whom were arrested, remanded to custody, and put through lie-detection and narco-analysis tests -- are now free on bail.

A chargesheet could not be filed by the DCB even three months after the accused were arrested in the eight-month old murder case. When asked whether the police had established if any of the three were the actual killers of the municipal councillor, Sharma replied in the negative.

Admitting that the underworld had crept ``right into the establishment,'' Sharma said that the city police were however equipped to handle the situation. ``We have booked a SMC employee and builders under PASA. Real estate is the issue here'' he stated. The concept of tackling the underworld is again something new for the police force. Then, police officials themselves admit that both knowledge and expertise in handling economic offences is ``a bit on the lower side in the city.''

Another equally irritating area for the police is the traffic problem. Attempts by the police to address the problem have met with stiff resistance. Be it the luxury bus issue (the government itself directed the police to stop the drive) or the rickshaw issue (there have been three strikes since February), the police have met with little success. A record fine in traffic cases has been recovered, but no concrete steps to find a permanent solution have been chalked out.