Bengaluru recorded one of the highest numbers of crimes among India’s metropolitan cities for 2016, coming second only to capital Delhi, revealed data from the National Crime Records Bureau.
While Delhi recorded over 1.9 lakh crimes booked under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) last year, Bengaluru witnessed 45,797 such cases. As per NCRB data, Mumbai recorded the third highest number of IPC crimes in Indian cities with 39,617 cases.
Among the other southern cities, Chennai saw 16,870 IPC crimes in 2016, while Hyderabad recorded 16,742 cases and Kochi 16,052. There were 3216 IPC crimes in Coimbatore.
Significantly, NCRB data showed that when one looked at crimes booked under IPC and Special and Local Laws (SLL), Chennai’s cases shot up. While Delhi topped crimes in metro cities in India with over 2.06 lakh cases, Chennai came second with over 1.13 lakh cases.
The figures point to the fact that Chennai police book a majority of crimes under SLL laws as opposed to the Indian Penal Code. This was apparent in the case of Coimbatore, another city in Tamil Nadu where the total number of crimes booked under IPC and SLL laws was 10,205 as against 3216 under IPC.
Bengaluru recorded 49,038 crimes under IPC and SLL laws last year, while Hyderabad reported over 18,000 cases. Kochi as well witnessed a similar increase in reported crimes under IPC and SLL, with 54,125 cases in 2016.
As far as violent crimes are concerned, Bengaluru reported the highest among south Indian metros, with 3967 cases. Hyderabad witnessed 1162 violent crimes in 2016, while Chennai reported 705 cases during the same period.
Bengaluru recorded an increase in the number of murders, with 229 cases in 2016 as against 188 in 2015. Chennai witnessed 133 murders, while Coimbatore reported 27. The number of murders dropped in Hyderabad from 106 in 2015 to 86 last year. With 10 and 3 murders, Kerala’s metros Kochi and Kozhikode recorded the least number of murders respectively in south India.
Looking at abduction cases, Bengaluru recorded 974 such crimes in 2016. Hyderabad had the second highest number of abduction cases among south metros with 359 cases. Meanwhile, Chennai reported 34 abduction cases, and Kochi recorded 14. Incidentally, Delhi topped metropolitan cities in India for abduction, with 5925 cases last year.
As far as crimes against women are concerned, Bengaluru accounted for 8.2% of all such crimes in metros in India, with 3412 cases. Hyderabad recorded 2419 crimes against women, while Chennai saw 544 cases. Kochi reported 392 crimes against women in 2016, while Kozhikode saw 352 such cases. Overall, Delhi had the highest number of crimes against women, accounting for 33% of all such cases in metros across India.