Crime rate in Haryana fell by 3.75 pc during first six months of 2020: DGP

Haryana saw a decline in the crime rate during the first six months of 2020 in comparison with the corresponding period of last year, with the police attributing it partly to the restrictions imposed due to the coronavirus-triggered lockdown.

As many as 49,978 cases under the IPC were reported between January and June 2020, as against 51,928 cases during the corresponding period of 2019, a dip of 3.75 per cent, Director General of Police (DGP) Manoj Yadava said on Thursday.

He said enhanced patrolling and monitoring have helped in bringing down the crime rate in the first half of this year. Increased police presence and checking in connection with restrictions put in place in view of COVID-19 also contributed to it, he said.

The DGP said the number of murder cases registered between January and June stands at 488, down from 590 in the same period of 2019, a dip of nearly 17.28 per cent.

He added that the number of cases of attempt to murder also went down from 467 to 449 during the same period.

Among other crimes, there was a considerable decline (18.56 per cent) in cases of wrongful confinement of persons, which went down from 5,155 during the first six months in 2019 to 4,198 in the corresponding period this year.

Similarly, there has been a 9.67 per cent fall in the number of burglary cases in January-June 2020, as only 3,258 cases were registered. The figure stood at 3,607 in same period of 2019.

The DGP said there has been a drastic fall in the number of theft cases, which reduced from 11,794 to 8,123, a sharp drop of 31.12 per cent.

The number of robbery cases also fell from 667 to 500. There were 1,023 cases of snatching reported during the first six months last year, but this year the count until June was 670, he added.

However, cases under section 188 of the IPC (pertaining to disobedience to order duly promulgated by a public servant) registered a sharp increase from 98 in 2019 to 4,189 in 2020 as people were booked for various violations during the coronavirus-triggered lockdown, Yadava said.

He said 84.63 per cent cases of murder, 100 per cent of culpable homicide, 91.75 per cent cases of attempt to murder, 97.66 per cent cases of hurt, and 83.59 per cent cases of kidnapping/abduction were successfully worked out during the first six months of the current year.