GUWAHATI, Nov 11 � Assam is all set to carve a niche for itself in the world of crime and criminals!
If the rate of acceleration is any indicator, Assam, for the first time, is going to fetch the dubious distinction of recording the tally of one lakh criminal cases registered in a single year.
With the number of cases registered across the State witnessing at least 10 per cent increase every time since 2011, there seems to be no stopping.
Assam had registered 90,289 cases last year (2013). In 2012, the total number of cognizable crimes registered in the State was around 79,500.
Records available with the Assam Police state that already till August this year, 65,484 cases have been registered at different police stations of the State and going by the trend in the last quarter of the current year, the one lakh benchmark will be superseded even before the year ends.
In fact, if one makes a detailed study, the crime graph has gone up by nearly 150 per cent in the last 10 years.
�In 2004, we stood somewhere around 40,000 cases. But at this juncture, we are talking about crossing the figure of one lakh, which is not a matter of joke, taking all the other determiners like population growth into consideration,� a senior official of the Assam Police told The Assam Tribune.
�It is not the situation a common man likes to be in,� the police official rued.
Statistics reflect that it is not just petty crimes, offences of serious nature too are leaving a telling effect on the society as a whole.
Till August this year, 3,554 cases of abduction, 1,403 cases of rape and 1,030 cases of murder were registered. Compared to that, 3,120 cases of burglary and 8,067 incidents of theft were reported in Assam.
In 2012, according to the National Crime Records Bureau, the State had the sixth highest rate of incidence of cognizable crimes in the country.
It may be mentioned that with nearly 50,000 cases pending all over the State, there has been a long-pending demand for effecting segregation of the police force for law-and-order duty and investigation.
