The number of murders reported in the Nilgiris doubled this year, while other serious crimes too saw an increase, statistics from the District Special Branch in the Nilgiris said.
The number of murders reported in the district doubled in 2021, from seven the previous year, to 14 incidents. Causing further concern was the increase in the number of reported crimes of sexual harassment and assault, with the number of cases increasing from 63 in 2020 to 80 for which 114 persons accused of the crimes were arrested in 2021. The police said that they conducted 687 camps at schools and colleges to encourage victims of such crimes to come forward and register their complaints, which could partly explain the increase in the number of reported incidents.
The number of thefts also increased from 76 incidents in 2020 to 97 this year, the press release said, while 1,711 kg of banned gutkha products and 14 kg of marijuana were seized and 357 cases were registered.
The Nilgiris district police also had some notable breakthroughs in detecting cases of stolen mobile phones with 75 phones recovered out of a total of 349 registered offences. The cyber crime police also managed to retrieve more than ₹4.63 lakh, which was lost to online fraud this year. A total of 286 offences were registered. Police said that 31 campaigns were conducted to increase awareness among people.
A total of 544 CCTV cameras have been fitted at more than 300 places to monitor traffic and prevent crimes, the press release added.
