VIJAYAWADA: Though there is a 6 per cent decrease in the cognisable crime rate in 2019 compared to 2018, crimes against women and children, cybercrime and economic offences have increased this year.
Disclosing this at the year-end annual press conference here on Sunday, Director General of Police Damodar Gautam Sawang admitted that there was an increase in the crimes against women and vowed to bring down the crime rate in 2020, which has been dedicated to women’s safety.
The DGP said the overall crime rate against women increased by 53 per cent due to various factors. “From June to December, a maximum number of cases were registered as I instructed all the SHOs to register FIRs for the petitions submitted by women in Spandana,” he said.
The crimes against children are also on the rise. As many as 1,302 cases were registered under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, compared to 1,169 cases recorded in 2018.
As many as 322 victims were rescued from the human trafficking gangs and 609 traffickers were arrested during the year.Furnishing the annual crime statistics, he said 1,12,697 cases were registered in 2019 as against 1,19,541 cases in 2018, registering a 6 per cent decline in the crime rate. Of the total cases, 5,080 cases are related to election offences. In all, 277 cases were registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act, and 1,892 cases under the AP Excise Act. As many as 688 cases were registered against traders of banned tobacco products.
Stating that the concept of visible policing helped bring down the bodily offences, the DGP said Andhra Pradesh police stood first among the States in effective maintenance of law and order. The number of property offences, murder for gain and dacoities was declined in 2019 compared to previous years. However, there was a 25 per cent spurt in economic and white-collar offences. As many as 8,867 cases were reported in 2019, compared to 6,733 in 2018.
Expressing concern over the increase in road accidents by 3 per cent and fatalities by 6 per cent, the DGP said emphasis would be laid on road safety. “East Godavari and Prakasam districts and Visakhapatnam City topped in road accidents and fatalities,” he said. The DGP said, “We are making every effort to curb smuggling of sand, illegal sale of banned tobacco products and bootlegging.”