White collar, cybercrimes on the rise in State: DGP D Gautam Sawang

Vijayawada: Crime rate came down in the State by 6 per cent this year compared to the previous year, said DGP D Gautam Sawang on Sunday. He said the police had decided to give a top priority to check crime against women and the year 2020 is declared as 'Women safety year'.

Addressing the annual press conference at the State head office on Sunday, the DGP said the cognizable crime decreased by 6 per cent in 2019 compared to the previous year. A total of 1,12,697 cognizable crimes had been reported in the State in 2019 as against 1,19,541 crimes reported in 2018.

He gave details of rapes, white collar offences, crime against women, cheating cases, cybercrimes, road accidents. He released a booklet containing information on the annual crime report in the State.

The DGP said rape cases declined by 4 per cent in 2019. The rape case reported were 662 rape in 2019 as against the 687 cases last year. He said the police would take stringent action against culprits within a stipulated time in accordance with the Disha Act.

He said white collar offences had increased by 25 per cent. A total of 7,271 cheating cases were reported in 2019 as against 5,465 the previous year. Similarly, the breach of trust cases also increased in the state. A total of 1,518 cases were registered in 2019 as against 1,143 in 2018.

Referring to cybercrimes, DGP said cyber-crimes increased by 53 per cent as 2,165 cases registered in 2019 against 1414 cases recorded in 2018. He said the police had deployed advanced technology to arrest the suspects in the cybercrimes.

Giving details on Maoist activities, the DGP said the Maoist influence was confined to only two districts in Visakhapatnam and East Godavari. The police got awards for successfully curbing Maoists activities.

He said the police are working with Odisha police to check Maoist activities. The police would keep vigil on the educational institutions to check consumption of Ganja by students. He said the educational institutions should also coordinate with the police to check the menace.