Community Policing Mantra For New Year As Bhubaneswar & Cuttack See 11% Rise In Crime

Bhubaneswar: Community-oriented policing is the New Year mantra of Commissionrate Police for controlling crimes in twin cities of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack.

Releasing the annual report, Commissioner of Police (CP) S Dev Datta Singh on Wednesday said that  crime control activities will be carried out with support and cooperation of the denizens. “Our New Year resolution includes decreasing incidents of theft in apartments and at other places and immediate detection of such crimes through community surveillance through CCTV cameras,” he said.

He further mentioned that the focus will also be on reducing fatality in road accidents by identifying the hotspot areas and addressing traffic congestion in the twin cities.

Singh said that Bhubaneswar and Cuttack saw 11% rise in crimes in 2024. “The rise corresponds to growth of population and economic activities in the twin cities and therefore, we can say that the crime rate has remained stable,” he said.

A total of 21,613 cases were registered in 2024 against 19,410 the previous year.

In Bhubaneswar, 14,416 cases were registered  in 2024 compared to 11,975 in 2023. “There was almost 27% rise in murder cases in the state capital. While dacoity was reduced by half and theft by 6.8%, 2024 saw 1/3 decrease in cases of burglary,” he told a presser. 

Cuttack, on the other hand, saw a slight decrease in crime from 7,221 cases in 2023 to 7,435 in 2024.  Here too, there was a decrease in loot and theft, and riot and traffic-related cases. Though there was a decline in heinous crimes like murder and rape, 786 cases of thefts were reported in 2024 compared to 704 in 2023.

Singh said complaints of crime against women, particularly related to domestic violence, witnessed an upward swing. He attributed it to implementation of free registration policies, encouraging victims to report incidents without hesitation.

Police arrested 1,125 people related to property crimes and 5.555 kg of gold, over 15 kg of silver, and 779 mobile phones were seized in the twin cities.

The CP said cyber crime emerged as a particularly pressing challenge with 7,263 cases of fraud, involving more than Rs 82 crore, being reported in 2024. Following complaints, police frozen bank accounts with Rs 23.6 crore and Rs 2.5 crore was returned to online fraud victims.

He added that Commissionerate Police has been educating people on cybercrime risks and issued 1930 toll free number to help the victims lodge complaints.