Hyd Sees 15% Drop In Crime, 27% Rise In Pocso, 6% In Crime Against Women

Hyderabad: Hyderabad city has seen a 15 per cent drop in crime rate this year compared to last year, but there has been a 6 per cent increase in cases of crime against women and a 27 per cent increase in cases of crime against children (POCSO), which is a matter of concern.

This year, relief has been seen in criminal cases and, due to awareness, the pace of cybercrime incidents has slowed down a bit, with some decline in road accidents as well.

City police commissioner V.C. Sajjanar, addressing the annual press conference at the Telangana Integrated Command Control Centre at Banjara Hills, said due to a strong and vigilant police system, even criminal gangs from outside are avoiding Hyderabad, fearing arrest while committing crimes in the city.

Counting the statistics of criminal incidents, Sajjanar said a total of 30,690 criminal cases of all types were registered this year, compared to 35,944 last year, representing a 15 per cent decline.

He said a total of 24,027 cases were registered under the BNS and state-level legislation this year, a decrease of 14 per cent compared to 28,005 last year.

The commissioner said there was also a 16 per cent decrease in cases related to assault, murder, attempted murder, etc., with 7,064 such cases registered this year, as against 8,447 last year. These included 69 cases of murder, a decline of 10 per cent (77 last year), 176 cases of attempted murder, a decline of 18 per cent (214 last year), and 851 cases of minor assault, a decline of 15 per cent (2,175 last year).

This year also saw a 49 per cent decrease in kidnapping cases, with 166 reported (324 last year). Nineteen cases of abetment to suicide were reported (26 last year).

In these categories too there has been a decrease of 27 per cent. However, a 49 per cent increase was seen in serious assault cases, with 110 reported this year compared to 74 last year. Seven cases of robbery were reported this year, a decrease of 63 per cent from 19 last year.

The commissioner said there was a 14 per cent decrease in fraud cases, with 4,536 reported this year compared to 5,303 last year.

Crime against women, kids up

Sajjanar said there has been a slight increase in cases of crime against women this year, with 1,069 registered — a 6 per cent rise compared to 813 last year. Rape cases fell by 31 per cent, with 405 reported this year against 584 last year.

Similarly, female kidnapping cases fell by 27 per cent, with 119 reported this year compared to 162 last year. Sexual harassment cases stood at 836 this year, compared to 877 last year.

Domestic violence cases rose sharply by 31 per cent, with 1,069 registered this year compared to 813 last year.

Property crime incidents

Sajjanar said property crime incidents declined by 28 per cent overall. These included two cases of murder for robbery (down 67 per cent from six last year), 19 cases of robbery (down 34 per cent from 29 last year), 116 cases of grand theft (down 47 per cent from 219 last year), 464 cases of burglary (up 7 per cent from 435 last year), 515 cases of domestic theft (down 40 per cent from 859 last year), 149 cases of theft by servants (down 14 per cent from 173 last year), 175 cases of distraction theft (down 28 per cent from 244 last year), and 1,501 cases of vehicle theft (down 28 per cent from 2,091 last year).

Property worth ₹36,74,59,369 was stolen this year, of which ₹22,30,63,892 was recovered — a recovery rate of 61 per cent. Last year, property worth ₹38,85,86,721 was stolen, with ₹18,03,46,832 recovered — a recovery rate of 46 per cent.

This year, 54 per cent of property crime cases were solved, with 2,051 out of 3,817 cases cracked.

Narcotics cases

A total of 3,311 cases related to smuggling, sale and consumption of ganja, drugs and other narcotics were registered this year, compared to 1,320 last year and 1,400 in 2023. Seizures included 3,243 kg of cannabis (1,364 kg last year), 36 LSD blots (65 last year), 452 grams of cocaine (636 grams last year), 100 grams of heroin (60 grams last year), 3,311 kg of opium (1,320 kg last year), 1,771 grams of MDMA (542 grams last year), 6,723 ml of hashish oil (11,993 ml last year) and 33,633 grams of other drugs (24,500 grams last year).

A total of 1,345 accused were arrested under the NDPS Act this year, including 11 foreign nationals. Last year, 1,465 accused were arrested, including 43 foreign nationals.

Cybercrime

Sajjanar said the eight per cent drop in cybercrime incidents this year is a positive sign, showing that awareness campaigns are proving effective. A total of 2,286 cases were registered this year (3,111 last year). Losses amounted to ₹251,14,81,432, of which ₹30,05,00,000 was returned to victims and ₹14,37,96,355 frozen in bank accounts.

This year, 393 cases were solved and 566 accused arrested, with a success rate of 18 per cent. Last year, 354 cases were solved with a success rate of 11.37 per cent and 511 accused arrested.

Cybercrime categories included capital investment fraud (₹44,83,72,329 in 740 cases), trading fraud (₹133,95,73,035 in 430 cases), OTP fraud (₹11,75,52,572 in 458 cases), digital arrest scams (₹33.86 crore in 86 cases), identity theft (₹3.25 crore in 40 cases), business fraud (₹4.31 crore in 53 cases), matrimonial fraud (₹1.27 crore in 12 cases), customer care fraud (₹1.12 crore in 49 cases), WhatsApp fraud (₹2.22 crore in 8 cases), gaming fraud (₹1.64 lakh in 4 cases), loan fraud (₹3.99 lakh), job fraud (₹1.23 crore in 43 cases) and other cyber crimes (₹4.32 crore in 39 cases).