VIJAYAWADA: Stating that better visibility of police officers and quick response to distress calls by women would help in making the city a safer place, Vijayawada city commissioner of police said more initiatives similar to that of the Sthree Shakthi programme were on the pipeline.
Releasing a report on crime cases reported in 2018 in the city on Sunday, CP Ch Dwaraka Tirumala Rao said there was a five per cent decrease in crime rate, but expressed his concern as there was a slight rise in offences against women.
As per the ‘Crime Statistics-2018’, around 6,200 cases of cognisable crimes were reported this year as against 6,710 cases in 2017. The CP said police succeeded in reducing property offenses such as murder for gain, dacoity, robbery and burglary when compared to previous years. “I believe that better visibility of police officers will ensure higher deterrence. Like never before, we have recovered property worth `5 crore with an overall recovery percentage of 55.27 per cent,” he said.
The statistics suggested there was a hike in women harassment crimes as 530 such cases were reported this year and 472 cases in 2017. Similar is the situation with cases of outraging women’s modesty. Explaining that majority of accused arrested in rape cases were either neighbours or relatives, CP Tirumala Rao advised the parents to keep an eye on movement of children to ensure their safety. Most of the technical rapes are due to offences committed in the name of relationships and love affairs, he added.
“As many as 50 rape cases were reported this year; of them 30 were technical rapes and the accused were neighbours and relatives.”On the other hand, cases of debit card and one-time password (OTP) frauds decreased by 28 per cent, all thanks to the awareness programmes conducted for the public by police and bank officials. Also, there was a 20 per cent dip in the cyber crime cases.
“Despite decrease in these cases, the amount involved in the cyber crimes is more in 2018 when compared to the previous year. While `1.52 crore was pillaged in 231 cases in 2017, the figure was `2.33 in 183 cases this year. `40 lakhs have been returned to victims,” he explained.
The CP also explained the performance of all departments such as Commissioner’s Task Force, Traffic, Court Monitoring System, Police Smart Parking application and Locked House Monitoring System (LHMS). “By conducting enforcement drives, as many as 999 people were arrested in 207 cases and `4.5 crore worth booty was seized. Also, we rescued 60 victims of human trafficking,” he added.
