In 2019, GB Nagar saw uptick in major crimes

The district witnessed a minor increase in murder cases in 2019 — 87 against previous year’s 85 such cases. 160 cases of loot were registered in Gautam Budh Nagar in 2019 against 131 cases in 2018.

The Gautam Budh Nagar district has witnessed an increase in major crimes, including murder and loot, this year as compared to corresponding figures last year, shows the police data. However, the data shows a dip in women-related crimes such as rape, gang rape and dowry death in the district.

Gautam Buddh Nagar and its residents living close to the banks of Yamuna river. (HT Photo)

The district police said it has taken some initiatives for women’s safety, which yielded good results.

According to the police’s annual data shared with HT, 160 cases of loot were registered in Gautam Budh Nagar in 2019 against 131 cases in 2018 — an increase of more than 20%. In 2019, Greater Noida recorded 91 cases of loot against 69 registered in Noida.

However, the district witnessed a minor increase in murder cases in 2019 — 87 against previous year’s 85 such cases.

The number of theft cases has also increased this year. The police have registered 3,956 cases of theft in 2019 against last year’s 3,573 cases. However, there is a slight decrease in the number of abduction cases. The city witnessed 214 cases of abduction, including missing children, against 2018’s 243 cases.

The police have recorded a decrease in crime against women in Noida and Greater Noida (priyanka.ishwari)

However, the police have recorded a decrease in crime against women in Noida and Greater Noida. The data shows that the cases of gang rape decreased from 12 in 2018 to eight this year. While the district witnessed 63 cases of rape in 2019 against 2018’s 64, the police registered 20 cases of molestation in 2019 as against 46 such cases in the previous year. Similarly, the cases of domestic violence in 2019 went down to 274 compared to the previous year’s 289.

Vaibhav Krishna, senior superintendent of police, Gautam Budh Nagar, said that the police have taken several measures to check serious crime in the district. “We have taken several initiatives for women safety in the past few months. We launched Anti-Romeo squad in Noida and Greater Noida. The teams were stationed outside schools, colleges, shopping malls and markets and took women’s feedback on safety issues. Based on that, the squads issued red cards to the suspects as a deterrent to make public places safe,” he said.

The ‘red card’ initiative was a non-coercive measure, which yielded good results in preventing the crime against women, the police said. After taking their basic details, the suspects were warned that if they are found roaming around, action will be taken against them, the police added.

According to Krishna, to check serious crimes, the police have launched a crackdown against gangs and several criminals have been arrested in the past few months. Giving example of a recent police action, he said the police on Monday lodged three separate cases and booked 127 criminals of three gangs, and a police constable under the UP Gangsters and Anti-Social Activities (Prevention) Act, 1986.

The SSP said the district police also launched ‘Dial FIR’ scheme in July 1 to register complaints of street crimes without having to visit the police station. “This has facilitated filing of FIRs and hence the crime data on such crimes might show an increase compared to the previous year,” he said.