Crimes soar in Telangana's districts

Hyderabad: While the state government is on its toes as far as Hyderabad city’s safety is concerned, it is drawing flak for ignoring the outskirts and other districts in Telangana state, thereby making them hotbeds of crime. According to 2016 records, around 70 per cent of the robberies that took place in TS were reported from districts. 

After the formation of Telangana state, the new government provided considerable funds to strengthen the police, but most of it were diverted to the city police. The city police was given new SUVs for prompt response to crime. Generous funding was also provided for improved technology enabling them to crack down on crimes faster. But the negligence towards police in other districts has been obvious.

Several crimes in the city, were solved easily due to the large number of CCTV cameras. The districts, however, lack the giving criminals the facility to rob and get away with it.

“The criminals find vigilance poor. Therefore criminals seek out vulnerable areas and hit them. The resources for crime prevention like CCTVs and searches are not implemented in districts, said a senior district official.

The detection rate of crime is also low in the districts due to lack of facilities such as functioning clues teams and forensic labs. A senior police official said, “It's important to have multiple clues teams so that they can reach the crime spot as soon as possible, before the evidence is tampered with.”

But senior officials said that they will now be providing district police units with all the facilities required. “We will be installing CCTV cameras along highways to check crime. We are also getting three more FSLs (Forecast System Laboratories) in the districts”, said the DGP.