125% rise in loot cases in state capital over past 8 months

IG REVIEW Findings emerge from a comparative evaluation of last year’s crime graph with that of the present year, in all the 11 districts of Lucknow zone

A shocking increase of 125% in cases of loot and robbery has been witnessed in the state capital in the past eight months (January to August 2016). There has also been a spurt in rape incidents in Lucknow during the same period.

These startling findings surfaced during a review by the inspector general (IG) of police, Lucknow Zone, A Satish Ganesh. The IG evaluated the present year’s crime graph with that of the previous year (January to August 2015) for all the 11 districts of the zone on Friday.

He expressed displeasure with the major increase seen in crime incidents and issued directions to all the district police chiefs to take stern measures to spruce up the law and order situation in their areas.

The Lucknow Zone includes Lucknow and Faizbad ranges and is headed by two DIGs. While the Lucknow range has six districts — Lucknow, Hardoi, Lakhimpur Kheri, Rae Bareli, Sitapur and Unnao, Faizabad range has five districts — Faizabad, Sultanpur, Barabanki, Ambedkar Nagar and Amethi. “The evaluation was done on crime heads like robbery/ loot, murder — and the findings were really shocking. The heads were evaluated in two ways — incidents that occurred and the unsolved cases,” said Ganesh.

“With regards to the number of robbery cases, the situation was worst in Faizabad district. An increase of 290% was seen. It was followed by Lucknow, which witnessed a steep rise of 125% and Sultanpur that saw a 95% hike in such cases,” shared Ganesh.

The IG added that Lucknow also fared badly when it came to solving robbery/ loot cases, with only 50% cases having been worked out. Barabanki was marginally better with 52% solved cases. Sultanpur and Unnao had worked out 57% robbery / loot incidents. “The assessment of was done only for those cases where the miscreants were unknown,” said the IG.

Speaking on murder incidents, Ganesh said that Lucknow was comparatively better than other districts. The situation was especially bad in Faizabad with around a 66% rise in murder cases, followed by Amethi and Ambedkarnagar that recorded an increase of 53% and 52% respectively. “Amethi police has been the worst performer in working out murder cases, with only 42% incidents having been solved, followed by Barabanki and Ambedkar Nagar (with 50% cases worked out),” said the IG.

He added that a major increase in rape cases had also been reported in districts Lucknow, Lakhimpur Kheri and Sitapur, while the maximum number of dacoities had taken place in Sitapur, Faizabad and Barabanki districts.