Aerial view of Kolkata

KOLKATA: Kolkata has emerged as the safest among 19 Indian cities, including the metros, in crimes committed per lakh population, the 2017 National Crime Records Bureau report has revealed. Last year, Coimbatore had beaten Kolkata to the top spot. Bengal, too, has improved its ranking — jumping to 11th spot from 19th last year — among 29 states in the same index.

Kolkata’s crime rate (crimes per lakh people), which in 2017 fell to 141.2 from 159.6 in 2016, is significantly better than the national average of 462.2 for the 19 cities with population of 20 lakh or more. Kolkata was followed by Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Kozikode and Mumbai.

The city’s crime rate has, in fact, been on a downward slide for the past four years with the total number of cases declining from 26,161 in 2014 to 19,925 in 2017, a decline of 31.3%.

The city fared well in crime against women, too, recording 15 cases of rape and 53 cases of stalking in 2017 against 1,170 rapes and 472 cases of stalking in Delhi. The one black mark in Kolkata’s report card was that it became the only city besides Delhi to record an acid attack in 2017.

‘Better manpower, focus on training reap benefits’

According to Kolkata police commissioner Anuj Sharma, the dip in the city’s crime rate is a result of improved policing following increased focus on infrastructure development, training and better manpower in the city police force.

“A large number of new police stations and specialised units have been created leading to improved policing. Due to this focused approach, Kolkata Police has been able to successfully use technological advances in crime detection combined with traditional approach of core policing .A major impetus has been given to developing police-public relationship leading to greater public confidence and sharing of information leading to prevention of crime. This has reflected in the dipping crime rates,” Sharma said.

“While these numbers give us confidence, it also raises the bar. Kolkata is and will continue to remain among the safest cities in India. Kolkata Police will strongly move ahead with the motto ‘We Care, We Dare’,” the police chief added.

Bengal’s jump in the index is largely due its improved performance in human trafficking: from leading the table in 2016 to dropping to the fifth position behind Maharashtra, Telengana, Assam and Jharkhand. The state also recorded lesser number of rapes (1084 cases) in 2017, but had the dubious distinction of recording the highest number of acid attacks (19 cases), cruelty by husbands (16,800cases) and attempt to rape (1225 cases).

