How safe is Namma Bengaluru any more? There have been 16 murders in 15 days this month, a figure that has unnerved the city police, who are otherwise reluctant to admit that the crime graph is on a steady climb. Murders of senior citizens and home-alone women are of particular concern.
Since January 1 this year, there have been 170 murders, out of which 12 were for gain. “People have no fear of the law. At any small provocation, they are ready to kill. Most of the murder accused seem to be people out of jobs with little or no social standing. Though 170 murder cases have been registered so far this year, police could have prevented only 12 of them because they were executed for gain. The rest were because of domestic or personal issues,” said an officer. A look at the crime records over the last five years shows that Bengaluru, on an average, has witnessed 20 murders every month in the last five years. Last year, there were 232 murders. In 2010, police registered 266 cases of murder and 256 cases in 2009. In 2008, there were 253 cases of murder and, in 2007, 244 murder cases were reported. The number of dacoity cases in the last five years has ranged between 88 (in 2008) and 43 (2011) with 25 cases of dacoity being reported in the city so far this year.
The crime figures look grossly uncomfortable, considering that Bengaluru has not witnessed major problems of law and order or internal security, which may have led the police to get sloppy as regards their main task of policing to prevent and control serious law and order situations. Barring the lawyer-media-police fracas in March and April, the city, by and large, has been peaceful.