Thanks to lockdown, Rlys crime down 74%

Meerut: Tighter curbs on train travel following a nationwide lockdown in March last year led to a sharp decline in the count of crime on Indian Railways.

The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data suggests that in 2019, as many as 9,49,695 crimes were registered by the Government Railway Police (GRP), while the number came down to 2,54,636 the following year, which means 74% dip in the crime rate.

In August, the Railways again suspended all train services. According to the NCRB data, 2,67,076 persons were arrested out of which 2,32,521 were chargesheeted and 2,31,428 convicted.

Maharashtra recorded the highest conviction rate (64,680), followed by Uttar Pradesh (24,457) and West Bengal (18,054).

Crimes like murder, attempt to murder and assault, witnessed a downward trend in 2020, compared to 2019.

The number of murder cases came down to 129 from 227, attempt to murder saw a dip from 84 to 49 and assault on women with intent to outrage her modesty went down to 163 from 506. Also, kidnapping and abduction cases dipped from 274 to 79, human trafficking cases halved (from 41 to 22), thefts came down to 21,775 from 76,205, robberies to 795 from 2,238 to 795 and cases under the Arms Act dropped from 1,411 to 237.

Box:

Wheels of change?

Decline in murder cases, robberies

The number of murder cases came down to 129 from 227

Attempt to murder saw a dip from 84 to 49

Assault on women with intent to outrage her modesty went down to 163 from 506.

Kidnapping and abduction cases dipped from 274 to 79

Human trafficking cases halved (from 41 to 22)

Thefts came down to 21,775 from 76,205

Robberies to 795 from 2,238 to 795

Cases under the Arms Act dropped from 1,411 to 237.