MADURAI: The number of crimes in the city came down in 2016 from that of the previous year, Commissioner of Police Shailesh Kumar Yadav said on Wednesday during an interaction with the media.
Giving the statistics, he said in 2016 there were 632 cases of property-related crime, which included murder for gain, robbery and theft, as against 755 registered in 2015 – a decline of around 17 per cent.
“The city police have detected 77 per cent of these crimes,” he said.
Marginal fall in murders
He said that the number of murders in the city were 39 in 2016. In 2015 the number stood at 40. “Some of these murders were due to family and relationship-related issues, which are difficult for the police to prevent,” he said.
Claiming that the city police did well in preventive crimes by habitual offenders, he said, “For instance, we have been successful in driving out all the gangs from the city.”
Mr. Yadav said crime against women and children had also come down in the city. There were, however, five cases of dowry-related deaths. “We are also focussing on providing counselling at police stations in marriage-related disputes, which often lead to violence against women,” he said.
Attributing the reduction in crimes in 2016 to increased patrolling, preventive detention of habitual offenders and effective use of technology, Mr. Yadav said the focus in 2017 would additionally be on reducing deaths in road accidents.
“While there were 39 murders in the city, 225 people were killed in road accidents, which were totally avoidable. We are targeting to reduce these deaths by 50 per cent in the coming year,” he said.
He said while the police could intensify stringent enforcement of traffic rules and road safety measures, the public should also drive sensibly and obey traffic regulations.
