GUWAHATI:
The Assam Police, on May 7, claimed that following the security forces’ massive crackdown on crime, its rate has seen a significant downturn in the state in the past one year.
“Last year, the average crime rate per lakh of the population was 384 and this year, it has now come down to 222,” said LR Bishnoi, special director general of police (DGP) Training and Armed Police (TAP), addressing a press conference here, on May 7.
Significantly, the officials’ claim came two days ahead of one-year completion of the Himanta Biswa Sarma-led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in the state on May 10.
“During last year, the average monthly registration of cases was more than 11,103, but this year, the number has now come down to 6,247,” Bishnoi said. The DGP further informed that the disposal of cases in the first quarter of 2022 is 28,400 as against 24,159 in the first quarter of 2021, they said, adding that pendency of cases in the state, which were 1,09,081 at the end of May 2021, has now been reduced to 83,947 at the end of April 2022.
Lauding the efforts of the police in curbing the drug menace in the state, the DGP informed that since the time the present government took over, the state police has registered 2,834 cases under Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, arrested more than 4,838 drug traffickers and seized 94 kg of heroin, 22,348 kg of ganja, 187 kg of opium, 38 lakh of Yaba and other tablets, 2.2 lakh of cough syrup bottles, 214 kg of cannabis, 0.31 kg of cocaine, a cash amount of Rs 2.4 crore and 320 vehicles.
During the said period, the police also destroyed 648 bighas of opium cultivation and 32 bighas of cannabis cultivation. In total, drugs worth more than Rs 548.53 crore have been seized, the official said.
Bishnoi also claimed that the police has also achieved massive success in tackling cases of human trafficking. In one year alone, the security forces have registered 141 cases of human trafficking, arrested more than 104 human traffickers and rescued around 250 persons, the DGP informed.
Claiming that the state police have been successful in curbing smuggling in the state, Bishnoi, giving figures, said that in the past one year, Assam Police has registered 163 cases of smuggled Burmese Supari seized 53 lakh kg of supari, auctioned 1.6 lakh kg generated Rs 6.53 crore of revenue, arrested 182 persons and seized 146 vehicles.
In the last year, Assam Police has collected Rs 48.93 crore towards fines for Motor Vehicle Act violations in the state to enforce traffic discipline and prevent accidents, he informed.
During this period, the Central Investigation Department (CID) has successfully investigated the AMTRON financial fraud case and the Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) scam, the DGP added.
Besides Bishnoi, the press meet was also attended by AYV Krishna, ADGP(CID), Hiren Ch Nath, ADGP(SB) and Surendra Kumar, IGP(V&AC).