After it was revealed in the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data that crime in Assam went down by almost 50 per cent compared to previous years, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday revealed that so far in 2023, a total of 56,202 criminal cases have been filed.
The number is significantly less than 68,937 criminal cases in 2022, 1,33,139 in 2021 and 1,21,609 cases in 2020, CM Himanta Biswa Sarma informed in a presser at Janata Bhawan in Guwahati.
The Assam CM informed that murder cases in 2020 went well over 1,000. As many as 1,131 murder cases were recorded in that year. In the following years the numbers went down significantly.
In 2021, in a minor rise, 1,192 murder cases were recorded, while in 2022, the number went down to 1,072 and in 2023, as many as 829 cases of murder have been reported so far.
Meanwhile, crimes against women saw a drastic drop from 26,352 in 2020 to 7,453. The Assam CM informed that although the number went up in 2021 to 29,046, in the next year, that is, in 2022, as many as 14,148 cases of crimes against women were reported.
However, crimes against children rose sharply in 2023, more than that recorded in any calendar year since 2020. CM Sarma informed that in 2020, 4,622 cases of crimes against children were reported, while the number went up to 5,282 in 2021. The year 2022 saw a decline with 4,084 such cases reported, but it went up again in 2023, with 6,171 cases of crimes against children reported so far this year.
The Assam CM, however, clarified that the recorded numbers were high this year due to the state government's well-documented crackdown on child marriage.
He said that out of all the cases of crimes against children reported in 2023 so far, 5,370, that is, much more than half of the cases, were related to child marriage.
Furthermore, cases of human trafficking also saw a steady decline. In 2020, 124 human trafficking cases were reported, while the number went up to 203 in 2021. In 2022, 140 cases of human trafficking was reported, while so far in 2023, only 87 cases were reported, the Assam CM told reporters.
It may be noted that on Tuesday (December 5), it was reported that crimes in Assam went down by almost 50 per cent, supported by the data presented by the NCRB.
Sharing a graphical representation of the same on X, Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma attributed this to fast and transparent recruitment to the police force, zero tolerance to corruption and investment in SMART policing.
Meanwhile, Assam director general of police (DGP) Gyanendra Pratap Singh also commended everyone involved for their hard work in helping bring crime down in the state.
