GUWAHATI, Dec 6: Chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma Wednesday said “strong and uncompromising policing” has been the key to decline in incidents of crime, asserting that the state will become a “paradise” within three years if law and order is maintained in a similar manner.
Sarma’s comments came after the latest report of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) showed that the total number of cognisable offences in Assam fell by 48.26 per cent to nearly 69,000 cases in 2022 as against the previous year.
He also said the crime rate has seen a decline in the state in 2023 as well.
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“Strong and uncompromising policing is the reason for this decline in crime rate; there is no alternative to strong policing. If we can maintain this robust policing for three years, Assam will be a paradise,” Sarma said.
The chief minister said this is the first time Assam has witnessed a fall in overall crimes since 1979, and the government hopes to continue this trend in the coming years.
“Assam was at ninth position in 2021 in India in terms of the number of crimes taking place. As per NCRB data, we are now at 20th position and this is real good news,” he said.
Sarma said developmental activities and providing jobs to youths have also helped reduce the crime graph of the state.
He, however, said registration of cases related to drugs and child marriage will rise, as the state has been carrying out continuous operations against the menace.
“By 2026, we will wipe out child marriage from Assam. After the next assembly session, we will also end polygamy,” the CM said without elaborating.
Asked about the low conviction rate in Assam, he said one of the main reasons is filing of marital discord cases under IPC 498(A), which is eventually withdrawn by many complainants after settlement.
“In Assam, the highest number of cases are filed under this section and these continue for years. By the time the case goes to court, the wife and husband settle their differences,” Sarma said.
The conviction rate in 2022 stood at 13.56 per cent as against 6.13 per cent in the previous year.
“We have been taking several measures, including creation of the Directorate of Prosecution and regular prosecution service cadre. We expect a huge improvement very soon,” he said.
At present, around 32,000 cases are pending in police stations without filing of chargesheets, he said.
The chief minister attributed the surrender of thousands of cadres of different militant groups to the drop in cases registered under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, 1967.
Sarma also stated that the state police in association with the National Investigation Agency (NIA) recently busted a cartel, which was using Tripura and Assam as a transit route to send illegal Rohingya immigrants to rest of India.
According to the NCRB report, Assam recorded a total of 68,937 crime cases last year, down from 1,33,239 in 2021.
Additional DGP of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of Assam Police, Munna Prasad Gupta, said altogether 56,202 cases have been registered this year till October.
A total of 6,171 cases of crime against children, including 5,370 cases of child marriage, were registered in the first 10 months of 2023, he added. (PTI)
