‘Unlucky’ Nagpur tops country again in per capita murder rate with Jaipur

Nagpur: The Orange and Pink cities are at the top position in the country in per capita murder rate, as per the newly released data of National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) of 2021.
Nagpur and Jaipur recorded the highest murder rate of 3.8 per one lakh population. Nagpur, with 25 lakh population as per the 2011 census, recorded 95 murders in 2021, while Jaipur with 30.7 lakh population witnessed 118 murders. In Nagpur, there were no murders due to gang rivalry, which underlined the relentless checks on gangsters. On the contrary, almost 47% of the murders (95) were over petty quarrels and trivial matters (45).
Senior police officials blamed the high murder rate in Nagpur on the bizarre situation of crimes in substantial rural parts being counted in the city, but the population in these parts not being counted in the city. “In case of Nagpur, the total numbers of murders was divided by 25 lakh, when it should have been ideally calculated on the basis of 40 lakh. So, it’s a misleading depiction,” said a senior official, adding Nagpur also witnessed ‘zero murder’ month in February this year, the first time in history of last few decades.
This is the straight second year when Nagpur remained on the top slot in the murder rate due to the unrecorded demographic difference. Last year, Nagpur was jointly holding the top position with Patna. This year, Patna has slid to second position with the murder rate per lakh being 3.7.
As far as numbers go, Nagpur is at 11th position in the country among metropolitan cities with 95 murders in 2021 while Delhi remained the ‘crime capital’ with highest numbers of homicides (454) for the third consecutive year.
In 2020, Nagpur was in sixth position with 97 murders but strict policing measures and some key strategic improvements by CP Amitesh Kumar pushed it down by five slots in 2021.
Kumar said Nagpur had witnessed a dynamic demographic deviation, which almost doubled its population with the inclusion of many parts of the district’s rural areas, which are considered as ‘city’ now. “Until the 2020-21 census data is released, Nagpur’s murder rate will remain higher,” said the CP, adding Nagpur also historically had a high violent crime rate. “Per capita crime rate would not have been higher if the population of the rural parts was considered, which has been merged in the city,” said Kumar.
The top cop also said professional efforts taken so far have led to the sharp decline in murders.
As per NCRB, Pune recorded 100 murders in 2021 while Mumbai had 162 murders in the same year. Maharashtra had witnessed 1,955 murders in 2021.