Some respite, crime graph down in city

Amit Sharma
Tribune News Service
Chandigarh, August 22

The crime graph in the City Beautiful has gone down this year in comparison to the last year. There is a fall in snatching, robbery, night burglary and both vehicle theft cases in the city.

As per the police statistics, snatching incidents, which had gone up last year, have been curbed this year with only 76 cases reported till August 15 this year as compared to 135 reported during the corresponding period last year.

Police officials claim that arrest of snatchers and police presence in the city at different locations besides evening nakas acted as deterrents.

Theft of vehicles, especially two-wheelers, curbing which has always been a tough task for the Chandigarh Police, also came down. While 411 two-wheelers and 104 four-wheelers were stolen till August 15 last year, 312 two-wheelers and only 55 four-wheelers were stolen this year.

The number of burglaries, which gave sleepless nights to the cops, too plummeted.

Police statistics revealed that while 103 incidents of burglary at night were reported last year, only 55 such incidents were reported this year. Meanwhile, daylight burglaries too dropped with 24 incidents reported this year as compared to 34 reported last year. This year, there were lesser incidents of crime against women falling under Sections 354, 354-A, 354-B, 354-C and 509 of the Indian Penal Code. A total of 31 incidents were reported in the city this year against 51 last year.

Five cases of stalking were reported this year, which is lesser than the last year’s eight incidents.

However, police records reveal that incidents of assault on public servants have gone up this year. While 13 such incidents were reported last year, the number has gone up t 21 this year.

SSP UT Nilambari Jagdale said steps like mapping the places where snatching and vehicle thefts were frequent and deploying cops there proved beneficial. “Roko Toko Abhiyan under which PCR and police station staff have been directed to check vehicles and persons on suspicion also acted as deterrent. City seal exercises and frequent nakas too helped reducing crime rate,” the SSP added.

She said keeping a record of persons released from jail and monitoring their activities also helped in curbing crime.

Murders, rapes up 

While 18 murders have already been reported this year, the number was 13 during the corresponding period the previous year. Rape cases have also gone up from 55 in 2018 to 68 this year.

More held with drugs

The UT police have made more arrests in cases registered under the NDPS Act this year. As many as 147 persons have been arrested with drugs this year while 109 were nabbed last year.