Bhubaneswar: Following the COVID-19 lockdown, Odisha has witnessed a drastic fall in the crime rate.
Sources in the State Police Headquarters in Cuttack said that the number of criminal cases registered a day has come down by 50 per cent – from 332 to 150 – after the lockdown was announced to contain the spread of coronavirus on March 22.
In Bhubaneswar, busy police stations like Saheed Nagar, Khandagiri, Nayapalli and Chandrasekharpur have recorded only three cases each between March 23 and 29. Earlier, these police stations registered a minimum of three cases a day.
A senior police officer of Saheed Nagar police station said that of the three cases registered between March 23 and 29, one is related to lockdown violation and others to illicit liquor trade.
Of 13 cases registered in Khandagiri police station, four cases relate to lockdown violations and three pertain to illicit liquor sale. However, no incident of theft or snatching has been reported so far.
Surprisingly, the Nayapalli police station has not received any report of any crime during the period.
Besides, the Chandrasekharpur police station has not registered a single case for cognisable offence.
Talking about the sharp fall in the crime rate, Bhubaneswar DCP Anup Kumar Sahoo said that there has been no incident of theft in the city since people are staying indoors during the lockdown.
