Noida sees sharp decline in street crimes this year

Noida: Street crimes such as robbery, snatching, and vehicle theft have declined by up to 60% this year in the Gautam Budh Nagar district as compared to the last

Noida: Street crimes such as robbery, snatching, and vehicle theft have declined by up to 60% this year in the Gautam Budh Nagar district as compared to the last year, shows the police commissionerate’s data released on Wednesday. However, cases of cyber crime went up by over 30% this year, the data showed.

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With regards to crimes against women are concerned, cases of rape have gone down by 61%, but the dowry deaths are up by 48%. Also, cases under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act went down by 30% (from 121 last year to 85 this year), the data showed.

The decrease in the number of crimes can be attributed to the “aggressive” policing in the district, senior police officers said. The police commissionerate system was launched in GB Nagar on January 13.

Addressing media during the maiden annual press conference on Wednesday, commissioner of police, Alok Singh, said, “Despite the challenges of the pandemic like border sealing, migrant movement, and awareness drives, among others, policing in the district has been aggressive, resulting in reduction in street crime and more action against organised crime.”

According to the police data, from January 15 to December 15 this year, there were a total of 2,316 valuables-related crimes (like snatching, theft, pickpocketing) as against 4,406 last year, registering a decline of 47%. Similarly, there were 398 cases of bodily harm (like murder, kidnap, attempt to murder) this year as compared to 511 in 2019 (a reduction of 22%). The maximum reduction was seen in the number of rape cases, from 89 last year to 35 this year.

The police officials said that assets worth over Rs 100 crore have been attached under the Gangster Act this year. As compared to last year’s 82 encounters in which 150 criminals were arrested, 135 encounters have taken place this year in which 244 criminals were nabbed, the officials said.

When asked about the lockdown effect on the crime cases, the police commissioner said that crime during the lockdown increased manifold in many districts of the state.

On the sharp decline in rape cases, deputy commissioner of police (woman and child safety), Vrinda Shukla, said, “There have been arrests in all registered rape cases. Charge sheets have been filed in all and we are working on fast tracking them. However, dowry death cases this year have gone up from 25 last year to 37. We are working on providing necessary counselling in such cases. Since May, 7,000 women have been provided assistance in domestic violence cases.”

The officials said that cyber crime in the district is on the rise and efforts are being taken to handle the situation. “Cyber crime this year went up from 3,050 to 3,956. To curb it, experts are being brought in, training is being provided to personnel and awareness is being created among public,” said Luv Kumar, joint commissioner (law and order).

The traffic police department is also working on improving the situation in the district. “The personnel strength has gone up from 421 in 2019 to 513 this year. We have identified 33 black spots and are working on eliminating them all while PRV personnel have also increased from 307 in 2019 to 448 this year. Also, more than 1,000 people have applied for traffic volunteers,” said Ganesh Saha, DCP (traffic).

The officials said that focus has also been on the smuggling and circulation of narcotics in the district. While in 2019, 856 kg narcotics worth nearly Rs 37 lakh were seized, the figure went up to Rs 64 lakh this year with the seizure of 2,093 kg of drugs.

Over 290 police personnel have contracted Covid-19 so far and three policemen on active duty died due to coronavirus, the officials said.