Karnal sees upsurge in crime

Parveen Arora

Tribune News Service

Karnal, June 13

Karnal district, once believed to be a peaceful place, has witnessed substantial rise in crime in the past six years.

From 2012 to April 30, 2018, the district has witnessed 6,607 cases of theft.

Proximity to Uttar Pradesh is considered to be a reason behind the increasing incidents of theft, loot, dacoity and burglary as the police have arrested a number of gang members belonging to UP.

“We have installed CCTV cameras at the Haryana-UP border. A permanent ‘naka’ has been erected on the border to keep vigil on such criminals,” said a police official.

Shocking figures came to the fore in a reply to an RTI query filed by Rajesh Sharma, a city resident, who sought the data of various crimes in the district since 2012.

As per the data, as many as 2,120 cases of kidnapping and abduction were reported during this time period. In 2012, 97 cases of kidnapping and abduction were registered in the district, but the next year, the district witnessed a huge increase and the number went up to 340.

In 2014, it rose by 10 per cent to 371. In 2015, it again witnessed an upward swing and the cases reached 420. As many as 489 cases of kidnapping and abduction were reported in 2016, 310 in 2017 and 93 by April 30 this year.

Superintendent of Police Surinder Singh Bhoria elaborated that this figure includes cases of elopement of girls and women. “Most of the kidnapping cases are of elopement of girls and women as elopement cases are registered under the Sections of kidnapping,” said the SP.

The district has also witnessed 385 cases of murder, 11 cases of culpable homicide, 326 cases of attempt to murder, 52 cases of dacoity and 295 cases of robbery.