BHOPAL:

police station area, which has become infamous for cases related to window/windscreen smashing, tops the list of police stations with the highest number of crimes in the city in 2019. Most of these crimes are registered as Non-Cognizable Reports (

).

The 2019 data suggest that in almost all the police stations the number of NCRs registered was higher or equal to the number of FIRs (crimes under IPC) registered.

Retired senior police officers maintained that the high ratio of NCR indicates that police were not registering all the offences reported and filing NCRs to avoid the burden of investigations. It is not only tarnishing the image of

in society and creating a distrust for them, but also leads to an increase in the number of serious offences.

In NCR, police cannot conduct a probe on their own. If the complainant wants action against the accused, he/she will have to approach the court with the NCR and then on the court’s order, police will investigate the case. A police officer said that less than 1% of the complainants approach court after police register NCR.

In many cases of vandalising vehicles reported at Kamla Nagar police station, police registered NCR and avoided a thorough investigation. As a result, more than 100 vehicles parked outside houses in the locality were vandalised and some even torched by miscreants. When the situation got out of control, police swung into action and nabbed the accused. It was found that the incidents were the result of gang wars between hardcore criminals.

A senior city police officer, on condition of anonymity, told TOI that the number of NCRs show the grim picture of

crime

rate, which is on the rise in the city. Most of the SHOs in the city try to avoid registering

as it reflects poorly on the crime graph of the police station concerned. Only the FIRs are reviewed in crime meetings and not NCRs, so the actual rise in the city's crime rate is not assessed.

He added that

being a state capital has many law and order duties on regular basis. Most of the times, SHOs and even the second in command at police stations are deployed on duties outside the police stations. Only 3-4 men run the police stations and they try to avoid registering cases to avoid documental formalities.

Retired DG

said this is a serious issue. Rise in the NCR ratio clearly indicates that the police are not registering all the offences reported. He said senior police officers should mandatorily monitor the

or daily report regularly and analyse the NCRs specifically.

Speaking on the large number of NCR registered at police stations, DIG Irshad Wali said that mostly in offences in which there is no injury or disputes within family members, NCR is registered. The complainant approaches police under sudden provocation, but the very next day starts pleading that the case be cancelled. He admitted that many times, police staff do not register FIR to evade the trouble of investigation. But in many cases, people do not want to pursue the case themselves, so NCR are registered.