Berhampur: The coronavirus induced lockdown and subsequent shutdown in the country, have helped reduce crime and road accidents in Berhampur police district, a report said. The area is a prominent region in corona hotspot Ganjam district.
The region termed as a criminal’s paradise is now breathing easy due to reduced crime rates and road accidents.
Sources said that the Union government announced ‘Janata Curfew’ as a people’s movement against coronavirus pandemic. Later, the whole country went under lockdown and various state governments also subsequently imposed shutdowns in their respective states as the number of COVID positive continued to rise.
The lockdown followed by shutdown and night curfew disrupted normal life and brought it to a standstill. The roads in Berhampur police district are no more witnessing traffic jams while cases of theft, dacoity and burglaries have come down in the region.
It is claimed that crime has been locked up in Berhampur police district which is termed as a criminal’s paradise. This can be ascertained if we take a look at the crime records in the district which has gone downward after lockdown was imposed in the region.
Reports said that a total of 699 cases have been registered in various police stations of Berhampur police district between April and June. At least 267 cases were registered in various police stations in the month of April, 211 in May and 221 in June.
Four murder cases were registered in May and only two in June. Three theft cases were registered in April; one dacoity case in June while there was none in May. Four cases of burglary were registered in April, seven in May and nine in June.
Similarly, three cases of snatching of cash and gold ornaments from people were registered in April, five in May and 14 in June. There were two rape cases registered in April, three each in May and June.
Road accidents have drastically come down as majority of the residents stayed indoors due to the lockdown, shutdown and night curfew imposed by the state government and the district administration. No major road mishaps were witnessed during the period as roads remained deserted during the lockdown.
No major crime was witnessed in the region except the seizure of gutkha worth Rs 1 crore from a house near Techno Park in Gurunthi Road and another seizure of gutkha worth lakhs from three places.
A country liquor den was busted while police seized a huge cache of foreign liquors from a place near the engineering school. The excise sleuths also busted some illegal country liquor den and seized foreign liquors from Golanthara, Haradakhandi and Pokdibandh areas.
PNN
