Among southern cities, Bengaluru saw highest murders in 2020: NCRB data

Gaining global attention due to rapid development in several sectors for over a decade, Bengaluru has also topped the list with the most number of murders among the southern metropolitan cities.

Going by the report ‘Crime in India-2020’ released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) on Wednesday, Bengaluru has surpassed all major metropolitan cities in South India with a maximum number of murder cases even though the Bengaluru City Police claimed that the numbers have actually come down compared to previous years.

According to the report Bengaluru, despite witnessing a complete lock-down from March 25 to May 31, 2020, reported a total of 179 murders for various reasons. At the national level among the 19 metropolitan cities listed by the NCRB, Bengaluru is in second place after Delhi which reported 461 murders. In fact, the country’s commercial capital Mumbai witnessed lesser murders than Bengaluru with about 148 murders.

Read | Crimes against women, children drop in 2020; disobedience cases go up drastically: NCRB

Out of the 179 murders, most of the murders were due to ‘personal vendetta or enmity’ with each other followed by disputes (60), petty quarrels (38) and illicit relationships (15).

Acknowledging the figures, Kamal Pant, commissioner, Bengaluru City Police, attributed the phenomenon to swelling population and unbridled growth of the city.

“Population-wise, we have already crossed 1.2 million and the city is expanding with every passing day. Several police stations that were previously part of neighbouring districts have been added to the commissionerate limits which is also a cause for rise in the numbers. But if you look at the overall progress and performance, there has been a slump in the cases compared to last two years due to increased vigilance and effecting policing by our staff,” Pant told DH.

Similarly, Bengaluru also reported 19,964 cases of IPC crimes during 2020 second only to Chennai with 88,388 cases. Previously, the same crimes had stood at 30,792 in 2018 and 27,251 in 2019. However, Bengaluru fared poorly in charge sheeting these IPC crimes with a charge sheeting rate of 61.6 and sixth metropolitan city with a poor charge sheeting rate.

Admitting the lapse, Home Minister Araga Jnanedra told DH that he has been personally reviewing this ever since he took over as the home minister. “Even before I assumed the office, it was the same. Our officials forget about the case after registering FIR and there is hardly any follow-up. Due to which the conviction rate will also come down. I have already instructed DCPs and SPs at the district level to focus on this and achieve better results in the days to come,” he said.

Check out the latest DH videos here: