BENGALURU: This year, class one offences such as murder, attempt to murder, dacoity, robbery and chain-snatching were much higher in the west zone (areas in the west, central,north) compared to the east zone (areas in the east, north-east, south-east and Whitefield). Last month, within two weeks, there had been eight murders, 27 robberies, 148 cases of injury, 33 attempt to murder cases, and eight rape cases.
According to experts, the nature of the crime is more worrisome than the number of crimes reported.
According to records from City Crime Records Bureau (CCRB), crimes cases can be seen more in the west and north. Experts have agreed that commercial areas in the zone can be the cause for this. Narendar Pani, professor at the National Institute of Advanced Studies, said, “Areas with white collar residents do not report the crime, which can also explain why reports are less in the east.”
However, he added that a study must be done on crimes per population to confirm if west is a crime hub.
Agreed urban expert V Ravichandar, adding that the IT crowd in the east plays a role in the lower crime rate in the zone.
More burglary cases in the east
According to additional commissioner of police (West) BK Singh, house break-in theft (HBT) cases are higher in the east. The number of HBTs at night is 508 in the west compared to 519 in the east. He explained, “There are 64 police stations in the west and 47 in the east. Not only that, the west is more of old Bengaluru and in the east you find new Bengaluru and the IT crowd. So, house break-in theft (HBT) cases are higher in the east. In commercial areas such as MG Road, Brigade Road, Chickpet, and even railway stations, you find more movement of people,” he said. In addition to this, the west has a higher concentration of slums. However, he says there are no specific areas where crime is conducted.