Punjab DGP VK Bhawra cites crime data to blunt Opposition's charge

Chandigarh, April 11

Reacting to the Opposition’s charge about deteriorating law and order situation, DGP VK Bhawra on Monday said the murder rate recorded this year was lower than the previous years.

In his first press conference after taking over as the DGP in January, Bhawra focussed on rebutting specific allegations levelled by the Congress and SAD that there was a surge in murder incidents, especially those involving gangsters in the state.

Bhawra said only six of the 158 murders (.04 per cent) reported to date had gangster angle. “The crime data indicates 158 murders have taken place, at an average of 50 murders per month, in the state so far this year. The figure was 724 in 2021 and 757 in 2020, at a monthly average of 60 and 65 murders, respectively,” he said.

Murder rate marginally down

This year, 158 murders have taken place, averaging 50 per month. The monthly average was 60 in 2021 and 65 in 2020… This is not a happy situation. We are trying to bring it down further. —VK Bhawra, DGP

Insisting the crime rate was not alarming, the DGP said the police would try to bring the rate down further. “This is not a happy situation. We are trying to bring it further down,” said the DGP, while seeking support of the public.

The DGP said the police had busted 16 gangster modules and arrested 98 individuals involved in these activities. A large cache of weapons had been recovered from them, he added. He said the police had identified 545 gangsters of A, B & C categories and had taken effective action against 515 out of these.

All six gangster-related murders had been traced after investigations and 24 accused involved in the cases had been arrested. All these were blind murders in which culprits were not known, he said, adding efforts were afoot to arrest the remaining accused.

Besides, nine murders not linked to gangsters had occurred so far this year, causing sensation amongst the public. Most of the accused had been arrested in these cases, said the DGP. Family/matrimonial dispute, rivalry or monetary dispute, etc. were among the main reasons behind these crimes.

Four new SSPs appointed

Chandigarh: The Punjab Government on Monday appointed Senior Superintendents of Police (SSPs) of four districts. The new appointees are Rajpal Sandhu for Batala, Avneet Kaur Sidhu for Faridkot, Sandeep Sharma for Nawanshahr and Ravi Kumar for Khanna. TNS