UP top cop trashes opposition charge on crime rate

Amid a mounting opposition attack on the law-and-order situation in Uttar Pradesh, the state's top cop asserted on Friday that there was a drop in the crime rate due to prompt action by the police.

"Thanks to prompt action by the police, there has been a fall in the crime graph across the state," Uttar Pradesh Director General of Police (DGP) OP Singh told PTI here.

His claims came in the backdrop of stinging criticism of the Yogi Adityanath government by leaders of the Samajwadi Party (SP), Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) and Congress.

While SP chief Akhilesh Yadav rushed to the Raj Bhawan recently to draw the attention of Governor Ram Naik to the "deteriorating" crime scene in Uttar Pradesh, "where SP workers are being attacked by the henchmen of the ruling party", BSP supremo Mayawati issued statements deploring the law-and-order situation in the state.

Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi also alleged that criminals were "roaming around freely, doing as they like" in Uttar Pradesh.

"In entire Uttar Pradesh, criminals are roaming around freely, doing whatever they wish. Criminal incidents continue to happen but it has fallen on deaf ears of the BJP government. Has the Uttar Pradesh government surrendered before criminals?," the Congress general secretary in-charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh had said in a tweet.

Asked to comment on the opposition leaders' allegation of a spurt in the crime rate in the state, the DGP retorted, asking, "When was it (allegation) not there?"

"We are ensuring immediate, prompt and strict action on whatever incidents that are happening in the state. In the last two years, 9,925 criminals have been arrested and 81 killed in police action.

"In action taken under the National Security Act, assets worth Rs 200 crore have been seized. There has been a decline in incidents of dacoity, murder, loot and abduction," he claimed.

Sharing the latest crime data, the DGP said there was a decline in serious crimes, including murder, rape, loot, dacoity and clashes, till May 31 this year, as compared to the corresponding period in 2018.

While 1,727 incidents of rape were reported in 2018, the figure came down by 37.52 per cent in 2019 and incidents of murder came down by 15.37 per cent to 1,470 in 2019, as compared to 1,737 in the corresponding period last year, he said.

Incidents of dacoity also came down by 28.99 per cent in 2019 while cases of loot fell by 36.99 per cent and clashes dropped by 34.68 per cent, Singh said.

There had been a 20-35 per cent decline in the crime rate in Uttar Pradesh, he added.

Asked about the behaviour of policemen in the field, which often brought a bad name to the department, the DGP said with behavioural training, the situation was changing, except "stray incidents" in which prompt disciplinary action was taken.

His remarks came against the backdrop of video clips going viral on television and social media, purportedly showing policemen in Uttar Pradesh mercilessly beating up young couples, torturing those accused of committing a petty crime and adopting third-degree methods.

"We have emphasised on intensive policing to gain the trust of people. We are also trying to ensure that those going to police stations are heard," the DGP said.

He added that to effectively tackle cybercrime cases, six new cyber police stations were in the offing in Bareilly, Prayagraj, Varanasi, Gorakhpur, Kanpur and Agra.

Currently, there are only two such police stations in Lucknow and Noida.

The DGP also pointed out that to facilitate people, the UPCop mobile application was launched on which FIRs could be registered easily.