Bengaluru police register over '30% rise' in criminal cases last year

Hameed Ashraf | NT

Bengaluru: With the ease of filing online police complaints, the number of criminal cases recorded by the Bengaluru Police in the year 2023 has jumped by over 30 per cent compared to 2022.

According to a report shared by the Bengaluru Police Department, there were 46,187 cases recorded in the year 2022.

However the number rose to 68,518 in the year 2023 due to various initiatives taken by the city police officials in order to promote public-friendly policing here.

The rise in number of complaints can be attributed to the paperless policing undertaken by the city police along with reinforcing the Namma helpline 112 and facilities to register an e-FIR on the web portal.

The launch of Lokaspandana, a QR-code which enables the citizens to express their experience with the jurisdictional police, also played a key role in the rise of filing of complaints.

In many cases, the police were helped by the citizens in receiving a tip-off about illegal activities.

To raise awareness regarding cyber frauds, the Bengaluru Police Commissioner B Dayananda began, ‘A cyber tip a day keeps the fraudsters away,’ a unique campaign on his official X, previously twitter, account.

Drug-related cases:

Adopting a zero-tolerance policy towards drugs, the Bengaluru Police in an order to eradicate the drug-addiction, conducted several special drives busting various drug peddling rackets in the city during 2023.

Following 4,399 arrests, the police registered a total of 3,433 by seizing drugs and narcotic items worth more than Rs 103 crores here. Among those arrested, 99 were foreign nationals, the police said.

Similarly, the police registered a total of 5,994 cases against those accused in other illegal activities including gambling, cricket betting, illegal mining, human trafficking, possession of illegal arms and COTPA cases in Bengaluru.

The police said they have arrested 9,614 accused in the above cases.