The crime rate has started surging in the satellite city with an ease in the lockdown. There has been a steady rise in crime in the last three months, which tripled since April. However, the overall crime rate is very low in comparison to the last year.
A senior police official of Navi Mumbai police said that there is a rise in cheating cases related to real estate. A total 24 FIRs cheating cases against builders and developers have already been registered.
The nationwide lockdown, imposed on March 25, subsequently extended further to break the cycle of transmission. After the lockdown, the movement of people completely stopped, except for essential services and supplies. There was a positive impact on the crime rate in Navi Mumbai, which fell sharply in the months of April and May as 75 per cent fewer crimes were reported. However, it started increasing after the lockdown was eased.
In April 2020, a total of 94 crimes were reported in the city. It reached 282 in July 2020. Under Unlock 2.0, at the end of June, the central as well as the state government had started easing in the lockdown. The movement increased and people also started travelling with certain guidelines.
As per the data available with the Navi Mumbai police, there was a steady rise in crimes after the lockdown with 94 crimes reported in April, 117 crimes in May, 248 crimes in June and 282 crimes in July.
However, the crime rate during these periods is lower than the same period of last year. In April, the total number of crimes of all kinds was only 94 as against 410 last year for the same period of April 2019. Of the total 94 cases, 47 were solved with a 50 per cent detection rate. Similarly, in May, the total number of crimes of all kinds was only 117 as against 481 last year for the same period. And, of the total 117 cases, 74 were solved with 63 per cent detection rate.
While the total number of crimes was 248 in June 2020, it was 469 in June 2019. Likewise, during July 2020, the total number of crimes was 282 and it was 489 in July 2019.
After the lockdown eased, the number of theft cases have shot up. While, in April 2020, total theft cases were just 22, it reached 91 in July 2020. Even the number of cheating cases saw a rise along with a slight rise in accidents cases.
