Encounters went up by nearly 65% in 2020; rapes, murders down: Noida Police

The Gautam Nagar district which switched over to the commissionerate system of policing in January saw a nearly 65 per cent rise in cases of gunfights between police and miscreants this year compared to the last, reveal official data.

Reeling under the Covid-pandemic, the district, however, saw a significant drop in offences like murders, rapes, abductions, snatchings and vehicle thefts in 2020 compared to 2019, the data showed.

The Uttar Pradesh government had in January this year set up commissionerate system of policing for Gautam Buddh Nagar and state capital Lucknow.

Releasing the annual crime figures of the district, Gautam Budh Nagar Police Commissioner Alok Singh on Wednesday said his force has been on an “aggressive” mode of policing to keep citizens safe.

The district saw a total of 135 cases of gunfights between police and miscreants in 2020, compared to 82 in 2019, resulting in arrests of 244 accused against 150 arrested in 2019. The gunfights this year also resulted in a higher number of 184 accused getting injured compared to 81 suffering bullet wounds in encounters with police in 2019, the figures revealed.

The gunfights also led to arrests of 46 accused carrying rewards on their apprehension this year, compared to 36 nabbed last year. During 2020, a total of 398 cases affecting the human body, like murder, rape and abduction were registered across Noida and Greater Noida.

In 2019, the figure stood at 511, according to the data. The outgoing year also saw the number of murder cases dropping to 72 compared to last year’s 88, attempts of murder to 94 from 142, deaths due to negligence to 19 from 20, rapes to 35 from 89 and abductions to 250 from last year’s 260.

During the year, a total of 2,316 cases related to the property were registered, down 47 per cent from 2019 when 4,406 such cases were lodged across Noida and Greater Noida.

The maximum cases under this head were those of vehicle thefts (1,160), snatchings (398), loot (64), dacoity (one) and 'others' (693). In 2019, there were 2,215 cases of vehicle thefts, 571 snatchings, 161 loots, three dacoities and 1,456 'others', according to the data.

The district police also said ill-gotten properties, including movable and non-movable assets, of mafia worth over Rs 100 crore have been attached during the outgoing year as it launched a crackdown on organised crimes.