Serious crimes down amid curbs
MUMBAI: Crimes have decreased during the month-long restrictions on movement imposed in the city, similar to last year’s lockdown. According to the crime statistics compiled by Mumbai Police, barring the cases for lockdown violations, body crimes as well as property crimes have shown a decline.
Officers have said that the heavy presence of police on roads, including at more than 150 checkpoints across the city, during the lockdown period has directly contributed in getting the crime rate down.
On an average, the city witnessed 19 murders and 26 attempted murders during the April-may period. While the number of attempted murders has remained the same since the lockdown started in April, the number of murders declined to nine during the corresponding period this year. Last year, eight cases of murder were reported.
According to the police officers, incidents of street crime have also decreased considerably owing to the movement in restrictions. Crimes such as chain snatching also fell below average. Statistics have revealed that only four cases of chain snatching were reported from April 12 to May 9 compared to an average of 20 in the previous years during the same period. Vehicle thefts also came down considerably from an average of 262 in the past years to 156 during this lockdown.
Officers said that city has also seen a decline in the cases of crimes against women. Rape cases decreased from an average 84 in the pre-covid years to 39 during the current lockdown. Last year in April 17 cases of rape were registered.
The police attribute this decline to the strict lockdown measures implemented by the department and steps like ‘Operation All Out’ and other preventive measures to lower the crime rate and increase the detection of earlier crimes. “Greater presence of police personnel in the field is the reason behind the decrease in street crimes,” said deputy commissioner of police Chaitanya Siriprolu.
However, the total number of cases recorded in the April-may period skyrocketed with 9,037 crimes being registered this lockdown against the 5,702 last year. Two years ago, 3,272 crimes were reported, while in 2018, 2,886 cases were filed. The police attribute the rise to cases registered under section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) for violation of lockdown restrictions.
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