TIRUNELVELI: Superintendent of Police (SP) PM Saravanan on Thursday said 43 murders were recorded across the district in 2022. He stated that the administration prevented the occurrence of 16 murders by taking precautionary measures.
"The district police registered 685 cases of murder, severe injuries and injuries while 1,016 cases were registered in 2021. Hence, the district witnessed a fall of 32% in such crimes this year. The incidents of murder witnessed a decline from 52 to 43 this year. While 599 cases for crimes against women and children were registered last year, only 354 cases were registered this year. However, the count of POCSO cases increased from 88 to 97 this year," said Saravanan.
Further, he said as many as 367 cases for theft, burglary and robbery were registered, in which the accused persons were arrested in 254 cases. "Stolen ornaments worth Rs 2 crore, cash and other items were recovered and handed over to complainants. The district police installed 2,703 CCTV cameras across the district to prevent crimes," he added.
Regarding fatal road accident cases, Saravanan said an increase of 1.73% was registered. "As many as 285 people died in 872 accidents in 2021. In 2022, 307 people died in 887 accidents. In comparison to other southern districts, Tirunelveli recorded a lesser number of accidents," he added.
The SP further said that his administration had recovered 31 acres of land, registered illegally, worth `10 crore and returned it to 49 land owners.
"Apart from this, missing cell phones, worth Rs 27 lakh, were traced by the police. Rs 2.81 crores of compensation were distributed to victims of various crimes. The police detained 219 suspects under Goondas Act for their involvement in various law-and-order issues such as thefts, ganja and gutka sales, and sexual harassment. The police registered 209 cases against those who smuggled minerals to neighbouring states," he said.