No decline in Bengaluru’s crime in second year of pandemic

Vehicle thefts, housebreaking, cheating, and drug-related cases top crime list

July 28, 2021 12:45 am | Updated 09:21 am IST - Bengaluru

Contrary to expectations that the pandemic and frequent lockdowns that forced people to stay at homes may have reduced crimes, drug-related offences, various forms of thefts, and vehicle lifting topped the city’s crime list in the first half of this year till July 21.

Statistics from the city crime record bureau show that apart from cases registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act – the highest number of cases so far – as many as 2,098 vehicle theft cases were reported in and around the city, but the police managed to detect only 346 cases.

This is because the stolen vehicles are taken out of the city within an hour and sold to people after tampering the chassis numbers. The accused also dismantle old vehicles and sell them to junkyards, making it is difficult to track stolen vehicles, the police said.

Similarly, as many as 777 housebreaks were reported, while the police managed to detect (solve) only 251. As many as 1,146 cases of cheating were reported, of which only 372 were solved.

Crimes against women

While handling crime against women, the city police has not been up to the mark. Of 304 cases of sexual harassment, the police detected 189 cases. However, out of 59 rape cases registered this year, the police cracked 53 cases. A total of 207 cases of assault on women and dowry harassment and domestic violence cases were reported, of which 178 cases were solved. As many as 185 POCSO cases were also reported till July.

While recovery and detection rates reflect the efficiency of the police and their performances are rated accordingly, many police officials opined that their main focus has shifted to enforcing COVID-19 related guidelinessince last year.

Admitting that law and order and crime detections has taken a backseat, a senior police officer attributed this to change in priority during the lockdown period.

“The presence of police in the form of patrolling and basic policing with local criminal intelligence systems are best to contain crime and maintain law and order. Due to many factors, in the last few months, this has been affected and we are reviving the system,” another police officer added.

High detection rates

The police seem to have fared well in handling other cases. According to the statistics, 82 murders were reported in seven months, of which the police detected 80 of them. Again, out of 22 dacoity cases, 21 were solved, while out of 87 chain-snatching cases reported, the police cracked 64 cases. There were 2,481 cases registered under NDPS, of which the police detected 1,893.

In a recent crime review meeting, city Police Commissioner Kamal Pant directed the Hoysala patrolling police to step up vigil and directed the jurisdictional police officers not to use patrolling vehicles for other purposes.

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