Updated: October 22, 2020 7:20:26 am
Compared to 2004, annual homicide cases decreased 21% in 2019, which is better than the 16% drop in the national average during the same period. However, between 2009 and 2019, murder cases increased by 5% in Bihar.
One of the main pillars of the sushasan or good governance plan of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is that he put an end to the goonda raj of Lalu Prasad’s government. A comparison of crime data from various government sources since 2004 shows that murder cases have dropped significantly across all three Nitish terms, as have ransom kidnappings, equaling RJD’s reign. However, incidents of attempted assassination have increased exponentially, even as the JD (U) -BJP government has failed to improve the proportion of the police population in Bihar, which remains one of the worst in the country.
As the electoral battle escalates in Bihar, the Opposition speaks of “deterioration of law and order”, even as the JD (U) campaign repeatedly compares Nitish’s 15 years to the 15 years that the state was under Lalu and his wife Rabri Devi as CM.
The Indian Express compared murder, attempted murder, kidnapping, rape, robbery and dacoity data for 2004 (last year of the RJD regime), 2009 (one year before Nitish won a second term with a landslide victory thanks to his success). in law and order implementation) and 2019. The comparison takes into account crime and police data available with the National Bureau of Criminal Records (NCRB), the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR & D) and the Bihar Police.
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Compared to 2004, annual homicide cases decreased 21% in 2019, which is better than the 16% drop in the national average during the same period. However, between 2009 and 2019, murder cases increased by 5% in Bihar.
“While state police are notorious for not registering FIRs, you cannot ignore a body,” said an NCRB official, explaining why the killings are a good indicator of the law and order of the state.
In contrast, attempted murder cases were 148% higher in 2019 compared to 2004. Even compared to 2009, there was an increase of 143%.
At first glance, kidnapping cases show a surprising increase, compared to the general perception, of 214% between 2004 and 2019. However, a closer look shows that the majority of these kidnapping cases last year were on the run. , with families of women and girls. as opposed to a relationship often known to use this.
The 2019 data, in fact, show that only 20% of the abductions were of a “serious” nature, while 80% concerned women who eloped. In fact, there were only 43 clear cases of “kidnapping for ransom” recorded in Bihar last year.
The figures are almost a complete setback compared to 2004 when, under the RJD, 71% of all kidnappings were of a “serious” nature and only 29% concerned the kidnapping of women.
“The reason for the increase in kidnapping cases is both a greater crime registry and the online reporting system, which has helped people file escape cases,” said ADG Kamal Kishor Singh, who oversees the Records Office. Bihar criminals.
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Another senior Bihar police officer, who has served in both the RJD and NDA governments, says: “During Lalu Prasad’s tenure, there were almost no police in the police stations. The force in the police stations has multiplied almost by four in the last 15 years.
Data on the BPR & D police force shows that the authorized force of the Bihar Police has grown from around 85,000 in 2005 (2004 data not available) to more than 1.4 lakh.
However, Bihar still has a large number of vacancies. In fact, during Nitish’s tenure, vacancies have increased. In 2009, 30% of the positions were vacant; this stood at 38% in 2019.
Analysis of other data shows that there was a 47% decrease in rapes and a 70% decrease in crime between 2004 and 2019. The figures had already fallen in 2009, although theft cases increased by 48% between 2009 and 2019.
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