BHUBANESWAR: Odisha registered over 1.78 lakh criminal cases in 2022 against 1.55 lakh cases in the previous, but the number of rape and murder cases have shown a downward trend, the government white paper on crime has revealed.
According to the white paper circulated among the members of the Assembly ahead of the discussion on the Home department budget on Tuesday, the state recorded 3,184 rape, 1,379 murder, 626 dacoity, 2,998 loot, 14,893 theft and 2,248 swindling cases last year. The law and order situation was by and large peaceful even as police opened fire 14 times to maintain law and order during the year.
The state has registered over 1.55 lakh criminal cases, including 3,327 rape, 1,394 murder, 552 dacoity, 2,826 robbery, 5,133 burglary and 13,024 theft cases in 2021. In 2022, 4,859 dowry torture cases were reported of which chargesheet were filed in 3,418 cases. Of the number, final report has been submitted in 179 cases. It said that 263 and 106 dowry-related murder and suicide cases were registered during the year out of which chargesheets were filed in 119 and 89 cases respectively.
The white paper stated that the government opened women and children desk in 608 police stations for protecting their interest and investigation of cases relating to them. One two-wheeler and one laptop have been provided to all these police stations for better management of the desks. Besides, 34 child-friendly police stations have been earmarked in the state for protecting the interest of children. It said that `3 lakh each have been provided to these police stations for this reason.
It claimed that spectacular success in anti-Maoist activities with only 27 incidents reported during the year. In the Left wing extremist incidents, seven Maoists were neutralised while 12 others were arrested. While three Maoists surrendered before the police, in 12 incidents of exchange of fire, eight civilians also died.
The white paper said that the Swabhiman Anchal of Malkangiri district was freed from Maoists because of continuous operations by the security personnel, area domination and development work undertaken by the government. More than 3,000 Maoists and their supporters joined mainstream because of the ‘Operation Gharwapsi’ campaign.
Crime chart