Visakhapatnam:Visakhapatnam registered a “decline in the overall crime rate,” despite an increase in the number of FIRs compared to the previous year – claims the city police.
City police commissioner Sankhabrata Bagchi said FIR registrations rose from 7,979 to 9,142, in the backdrop of the election-related incidents. However, the number of grave offences has decreased, he said.
Technology, he said, played a crucial role in crime detection. With the help of CCTV footage, 223 cases were solved over the last five months. Additionally, drones were deployed on 75 occasions during festivals, protests, large gatherings etc.
Crimes against women have increased this year. The registered rape cases increased to 121 from 84 last year but molestation cases decreased slightly from 265 to 258.
Bodily offenses/injuries have risen from 399 in 2023 to 451 in 2024 while there were 22 murder cases and 21 cases of kidnapping and abduction.
The commissioner said traffic enforcement initiatives have reduced accident rates from 1,180 in 2023 to 1,094 in 2024. Additionally, 258 individuals were jailed in drunk driving cases.
As for financial penalties, the city imposed fines totaling `11,05,23,950 in 2024. The number of NDPS (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances) cases has increased over the past two years, with 313 cases registered and 718 arrests made.
Police seized 5,024.93 kg of ganja, along with various NDPS substances: 3,518 tablets, 9,148 grams of MDMA powder, two ganja plants and 132 ganja chocolates.
Cybercrime has also seen significant activity this year, with 364 cases registered. The authorities froze 2,523 bank accounts and `20.42 crore. Of this, only `2.02 crore has been refunded to the victims. The total reported loss due to cybercrime this year was `115.4 crore, compared to `33.36 crore in 2023 and `17.3 crore in 2022.
Convictions have risen in 2024 to a total of 154 -- up from 142 and 146 in the previous two years. Through pre-litigation counseling, 172 disputes have been resolved.
The commissioner said the police received 41,720 calls to the emergency number 112, and 555 FIRs were registered based on these calls.
