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DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand has emerged as the second best state in the country on the basis of the crime rate recorded last year according to the latest National Crime Records Bureau ( NCRB ) report which was released on Thursday. Uttarakhand has been ranked 32 out of 36 states and union territories in the report. Nagaland is the only state that fares better than Uttarakhand in terms of rate of crime recorded. While the rate of cognizable crimes in Uttarakhand in 2016 was 101.8, the figure for Nagaland was 57.6. Notably, crime rate is calculated as crime per one lakh of population based on the 2001 census.

Uttarakhand fared much better than other small states like Sikkim (124.7), Tripura (102.4), Himachal Pradesh (188.1), Manipur (121.9), Meghalaya (120.9) as well as Jammu and Kashmir (196.6). Delhi incidentally recorded the worst crime rate in the country (974.9) according to the NCRB data.

In Uttarakhand, the total number of registered crime cases under various sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) last year were 10867. Other hill states like Himachal Pradesh (13386), Jammu and Kashmir (24501) as well as those formed at the same time as Uttarakhand like Chhattisgarh (55029) and Jharkhand (40710) reported a much higher number of crime cases than the Himalayan state.

Speaking about Uttarakhand’s performance, Ashok Kumar , additional director of police (ADG) Law and Order, told TOI, “Uttarakhand has been performing well on the crime rate front and NCRB report has just reinforced the fact. The state police has been continuously modernising and reskilling itself to combat new and emerging crimes in the society.”

However, despite a good performance, the state has some cause for concern. Uttarakhand’s figure of 10867 crime cases this year is higher than the numbers reported in 2015 (10248 cases) as well as 2014 (9156 cases). Murder cases in the state have also increased to 194 from 192 cases reported in 2015. In kidnapping and abduction category, Uttarakhand’s figures are higher than other Himalayan states. While 798 people got kidnapped in Uttarakhand in 2016, Himachal reported 312 abduction incidents and just 12 cases of kidnapping were registered in Sikkim.