BHUBANESWAR: The crime graph increased during 2020 with the State reporting more rape cases, dacoities and cyber crimes when lockdown and shutdown were in force due to Covid-19 pandemic.
The State witnessed 2,984 rape cases, 1,931 cyber frauds, 1,490 murders and 1,931 robberies during the year, Minister of State for Home Dibya Shankar Mishra said in a written reply to a question from Bhabani Shankar Bhoi of BJP.
“During the year, 2,984 cases have been lodged for rape, 1,931 for cyber crime, 1,490 for murder, 17 for ATM loot and five for bank loot. Information regarding places of the crimes is being collected. However, information on GST fraud is not available with the department concerned,” he said.
The Minister said more than Rs 35.07 crore has been defrauded in cyber crime cases lodged at various police stations last year.
Under the 5T initiative of the State government, police personnel have been strictly instructed to treat each complainant appropriately and provide them proper services at the earliest, he said.
In a written reply to a question from BJD MLA Soumya Ranjan Patnaik, the Minister said cyber crime related incidents saw a spike of around 23.6 per cent between 2019 and 2020.
Congress member Santosh Singh Saluja came down heavily on the government for the increase in number of crime particularly against women.
While the State witnessed more than eight rape cases per day last year, cyber crime, murder, dacoity and loot also increased considerably which exposed the government, he said.
Crime graph
1,931 cyber frauds
1,490 murders
1,931 robberies
17 ATM loot incidents