Though there is a decline in robbery and cognizable offences, the twin city of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack witnessed an increase in crimes like rioting, cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, Immoral Traffic Act and excise Act in 2016 in comparison to 2015.
Commissioner of Police YB Khurania while sharing the annual crime record statistics of 2016 with the media on Wednesday said that during 2015 a total of 138 rioting cases were reported which shot up to 161 during 2016.
He, however, claimed that the numbers of swindling, theft, burglary, motor vehicle accident cases have declined in 2016 as compared to 2015. He said while 10,906 cognizable cases were filed in 2015 it came down to 10,774 in 2016.
Khurania said during 2016, the police had succeeded in arresting veteran criminals like Dhal Samanta brothers from the city.
However, Khurania said the number of murder cases remained the same in 2015 and 2016. “Though 64 murder cases were reported during 2016 against 61 in the 2015 but the number of murder cases remained steady as three murder cases reported in 2015 were registered in 2016, said the CP.
Robbery increased in Bhubaneswar but recorded a decrease in Cuttack Urban Police District. As many as 294 criminals were arrested for committing robbery in 2016 against 231 in 2015. The incidence of burglary was also decreased from 378 in 2015 to 354 in 2016.
Khurania said the theft cases recorded a substantial decline in last year. He said 2,328 theft cases were reported in 2015 that reduced to 1,902 in 2016. There was also substantial decline in theft of motor vehicles, mobile phones, laptops. However, the number of rape cases went up from 127 to 144 in 2016.
“In Bhubaneswar the number of rape cases decreased from 87 in 2015 to 77 in 2016. But in Cuttack it increased from 40 in 2015 to 67 in 2016,” said the commissioner.