State’s annual crime report delayed by two years

Although the CID has been updating monthly crime data on its website, it has been unable to publish the annual statistics

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) has not published the annual crime data of Maharashtra for the last two years. The data is instrumental in gauging the law and order situation in the state.

According to him, the crime data is now processed under 75-76 parameters as against the 35-36 previously. (PICTURE FOR REPRESENTATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY)

Although the CID has been updating monthly crime data on its website, it has been unable to publish the annual statistics.

The last available report on the state website (www.mahacid.com) is “Crime in Maharashtra, 2016”, which has been published in December, 2017.

There is also a delay in the crime report from the National Crime Records Bureau being published, which is being attributed to an updated pro forma prescribed by the bureau, which is required to be submitted by all the state CIDs.

SP Jadhav, former additional director general of police, CID, Maharashtra, said, “It is not a necessity that state Criminal Investigation Departments’ wait for the National Crime Records Bureau to publish its annual ‘Crime in India’ report, with comparative data of all the states in the country.”

About the delay in publishing the report, Ashok Prasad, spokesperson, Ministry of Home Affairs, said, “Select states have not submitted their data and select states have not provided the requested clarifications. The delay by the states may partly be because the pro forma has been updated. It was updated to make it more computer-friendly. We are expecting to get all the required details from the states in the next three to four months.”

Sanjeev Kumar Singhal, Maharashtra’s Additional Director General, CID, explained that the national bureau introduced a new pro forma for submitting the 2017 crime statistics and accordingly, the data was collected and sent to the bureau. According to him, a number of parameters are added to enable better analysis of the data. “Earlier, the data was submitted to National Crime Records Bureau with 35 unique titles defining types of crimes along with a miscellaneous Section 36. In the new format, various sub-sections are added like in the cases of rape, a record of the age of the survivor, the profession of the accused, among others had to be added,” Singhal said.

According to him, the crime data is now processed under 75-76 parameters as against the 35-36 previously.

Singhal said, “The data was being compiled under the new pro forma to counter media reports and claims of an upward trend in cases of offences like lynching, crimes against women and others.

“The new format would help verify whether the news reports about specific crimes were “just hype,” while helping the police to better analyse and appreciate the data,” he added.

“The only demerit of publishing state data without the national data is that the chapter where the comparative data is published is not included. It tells you where Maharashtra stands vis-a-vis other states. In my time, we had published the annual data on time without that chapter. When the National Crime Records Bureau data was published, we published a booklet (with the comparative data),” said Jadhav.

Why is the annual crime data important?

The data is instrumental in gauging the law and order situation in the state.

When was the report last published?

The last available report on the state website (www.mahacid.com) is “Crime in Maharashtra, 2016,” which has been published in December, 2017.

Why there is a delay in publishing the report?

The delay in the crime report from the National Crime Records Bureau is being attributed to an updated pro forma prescribed by the National Crime Records Bureau which is required to be submitted by all the state criminal investigation departments. In the new format various sub-sections are added. The crime data is now processed under 75-76 parameters as against the 35-36 previously.

Quote

“Earlier, the data was submitted to National Crime Records Bureau with 35 unique titles defining types of crimes along with a miscellaneous Section 36. In the new format, various sub-sections are added.”

Sanjeev Kumar Singhal, Maharashtra’s Additional Director General, Criminal Investigation Department