It is wrong to brand Kerala as the most crime-prone state in the country on the basis of the statistics in the National Crime Records Bureau’s latest report, the state police said on Tuesday.
Kerala topped the list of most crime-prone states because NCRB saw even non-violent crimes as violent crimes, DGP Jacob Punnoose said in a statement issued here on Tuesday. According to the NCRB statistics, crimes, that are not so serious such as clashes are also included in the list of violent crimes which include murder, attempt to murder, dowry death, abduction, robbery and arson.
As per the NCRB data, there were as many as 14,698 criminal cases recorded in Kerala in 2011, putting the crime rate at 44, when the national average is 21.2. But among these cases, 10,754 are related to clashes and agitations. So if the number of clashes are excluded, the crime rate will come down to 12 from 44.
The NCRB finding is based on the data given by the state police and not the total of all the crimes that occur in a society.
The statement also said that the number of cases in Kerala is high because the police here record even the smallest crimes, while their counterparts in other states normally ignore them.
It also pointed out that Kerala is one among the places in the world where the number of murders is the lowest. More crimes are reported as the the people here are more aware about their rights and maintain a good relationship with the police.