Telangana districts are crime magnets; lack of police infra leaves them weak

Hyderabad: While resources have been poured into Hyderabad city to make it safer, the outskirts of the city and other districts in Telangana state have been ignored by the government, making them more vulnerable to robberies.

More than 70 per cent of armed robberies and dacoities took place in the districts in 2016, a year that saw a huge spurt in property-related offences.

After the formation of Telangana, the state government provided funds to revive the police department, but the lion’s share went to the Hyderabad police. They got new SUVs, special vehicles for armed quick response teams, and resources to improve technology. Police departments in other districts got very little of this.

“Criminals feel police vigilance is poor in other districts as compared to the capital city, so they go for the vulnerable places. The resources for crime prevention such as CCTVs, cordon and search operations etc. are not as well implemented in other districts as they are in the capital city,” said a senior district official.

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

Telangana DGP Anurag Sharma, however, says there are enough facilities in the districts. “We will be installing CCTV cameras along the highways in order to prevent these crimes. We are also getting three more forensic science laboratories in the districts,” he said.