Top cop claims lesser crime rate in Telangana

​Hyderabad: Crime has shown a downward trend in the State since the formation of Telangana and the crime is by and large under control during 2016, according to Director General of Police (DGP), Anurag Sharma.

Addressing the annual media conference on Thursday, the State police chief said 95,124 cognizable crimes were reported during the year up to November as against 1,00,447 cognizable crimes in 2015. The number of crimes this year may cross the previous year after adding the statistics for the month of December.

Ironically, crime against the downtrodden, the SCs and STs increased by 8.5 percent, while economic offenses increased by 9.37 percent, cheating cases increased by 8.66 percent and cases of criminal breach of trust increased by 17.09 percent during 2016.

Further, cases of counterfeit currency increased by 28.95 percent whereas 21 cases of bank thefts were reported in 2016 as against 18 cases during 2015, the DGP said. Yet, he claimed that the crime was under control in Telangana.

Referring to crime against women, Anurag Sharma said initiatives like SHE teams and Bharosa were launched due to which women feel safe in Telangana.

He made this claim despite an increase in rapes, kidnap and abduction of women. While 885 cases of rape were reported up to November 2016, the number of cases in 2015 was 877.

Similarly, the number of kidnap and abduction during this year was 554 while the same was 507 in 2015. The DGP, however, said law and order had been maintained well in the State.

He also said the State had been reorganised following which there were now nine police commissionerates and 18 police districts.

As many as 92 new police stations, 28 new circles and 23 new sub divisions were formed, he said. As part of implementation of Public Safety Measures Enforcement Act, Telangana police had motivated the communities and business establishments in urban areas to set up surveillance cameras, he said adding that the footage from community CCTV footage played a prominent role in detecting some of the important cases.

The DGP also said the performance of Telangana police in the areas of anti-human trafficking, road safety and cyber crime detection had been impressive.

He further said the Telangana police had been recognised and rewarded for its hard work and several new initiatives despite challenges like manpower crunch.

“We have more than 15,000 vacancies in all ranks. Recruitment tests have already been conducted for 11,613 police constables and 539 sub-inspectors. Results will be declared shortly,” he said.

Special allowances of 30 percent to personnel working in traffic and 25 percent to the personnel of intelligence and CID were being given. A proposal had been sent to the government seeking the special allowance for Home Guards and the same was likely to be approved soon, he said.

Further, four new India Reserve Battalions were being raised and several infrastructure development initiatives were launched. A proposal was also underway to open as many as 50 traffic police stations on the highways, he said.

The DGP also said various welfare measures were taken up for the police personnel and the Telangana police received several awards for the new initiatives besides winning various trophies at the regional and national level competitions.