Kochi on top of crime rate chart

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Kochi: The crime statistics published by the National Crime Records Bureau for 2012 has indicated that Kochi city has the highest rate of Indian Penal Code (IPC) crimes among the mega cities of India.

Kochi with a crime rate of 817.9 was well above the second placed Indore which had a rate of 762.6. Gwalior and Kollam were placed third and fourth with crime rates of 709.3 and 637.3 respectively.

Although big cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai and Kolkata had reported more number of crimes, the comparatively lesser population in Kochi gave the city higher numbers in crime rates. Detailed statistics showed that the Kochi city police had reported 17, 324 IPC cases last year which contributed to 3.7 per cent of the total number of cases in India.

Although the city has found its way to the bad books of the country, Central Zone Inspector General K. Padmakumar is of the opinion that the numbers do not exactly represent the actual scenario. He said the increasing numbers meant that the police were registering cases. “The scenario is not the same in other states. We have a people-friendly police here and we actually encourage the public to come forward with their complaints and cases. The people here are educated and hence find it easy to talk to the police and lodge complaints,” Padmakumar said.

Kochi had also topped the crime statistics in 2011 too. “Kochi was tagged the crime capital last year too. We have been at the receiving end…all because we chose to be people-friendly. We could have easily stopped reporting petty crimes and bettered the statistics of 2012. But we opted to be of service to the public and reported each and every offence,” the IG added.

Detailed statistics say the crime rate in Kochi has increased by 3.5 per cent in the last five years, while the rate has dropped by 50 per cent from 2011. Kochi witnessed nine murders, 10 murder attempts and 28 rapes last year. The city reported six cases of kidnapping and abduction of which five instances had women or girls as victims.

There were 37 cases of attempted dacoity, 25 cases of robbery, 90 cases of burglary, 308 instances of thefts, eight cases of criminal breach of trust, 630 cheating cases and two counterfeit currency cases last year. The police also reported 445 hurt cases, 108 cases of assault against women and 16 instances of attempt to outrage the modesty of women.