Nagpur: The unlockdown process between June and September this year was marked by a stunning rise of more than 307% in street crimes compared to previous three months. Between March and May this year, there were only 13 robberies including chain snatchings, a number that jumped to 53 between June and September.
A drastic drop of more than 80% in the street crimes between March and May was observed in city during lockdown compared to same period in 2019.
Response to an RTI query from the police department showed total numbers of cases like burglaries, dacoities, robberies, chain snatchings and thefts, clubbed as ‘property offences’, went up from 427 between March and May to 892 between June to September.
In 2019, 67 robberies had taken place between March and May. In the same period this year, there were only 13 such cases on the roads. Chain snatching incidents too came down by more than 91% from 24 in 2019 to just two this year between March and May.
The total numbers of thefts increased almost 91% from 301 between March and May this year to 576 in the period from June to September. Just five dacoities were registered between March to May this year while eight such cases occurred between June and September.
With more people staying at home, the burglars too had to stay away with the offences of housebreaking remaining at 108 between March and May. They surged to 225 between June and September.
ACP, crime, Sudhir Nandanwar, who has worked for several years in the city, said visibility and alertness of police was high during lockdown which made the robbers and burglars insecure. “The criminals were seeing police everywhere on the streets,” he said. “Another major factor was non-availability of liquor which is a prime cause of any crime. Many criminals lack confidence to carry out a criminal act until they are high on liquor,” said the ACP.