As many as 258 murders were reported in 2012 as compared to 199 in the previous year, with most of them related to disputes between husband and wife or within the family members, disputes

between friends, or due to business rivalry. The decline of thefts, burglaries and robberies during the year gone by was a saving grace in the city, which, however saw the number of murders

go up exponentially. Although the city witnessed several sensational crimes including murders, the efforts of the city police to check crime seems to have paid off with the number of cases

of chain snatching, thefts, burglaries and robberies coming down, although there were more murders than the previous year. As many as 258 murders were reported in 2012, while the previous

during 2012 many serious cases like a gang rape, assaults on women, rapes on minor girls, murder of a government employee and an RTI activist,that shocked the citizens. According to the

statistics available with the City Crime Records Bureau (CCRB), murders and thefts increased slightly in 2012. According to the statistics available, valuables worth around ` 83 crore,

including gold jewellery, silver articles, cash, car, diamond and others were stolen during 2012. The police were successful in recovering Rs73 crore worth stolen property with the detection

percentage of 94.32%. The numbers of rape in the city, which saw an alarming increase last year, did not show decline. The year ended witnessed 75 rapes, while 2011 had 74 against 56 in

2010. The major incidents during year included the rape of a law student at Jnana bharathi, the alleged rape a child by her father who is an official of the French consulate in the city, and

gangrape of some bar girls. A senior officer requesting anonymity told _DNA_: “Many new steps taken by city police in 2012 resulted in prevention of some crimes. If the plans are continued

in 2013, crimes will be prevented at large scale.” Preventive steps * Intensification of sub-beat to keep track of rowdy sheeters and repeat offenders and other anti-social elements. * The

‘Good morning’ and ‘Good evening’ beat in which police patrolled parks and streets to prevent chain snatching targeting walkers. * Started Jana Snehi police centres in a few places. * Nabbed

gangs which were dealing with human smuggling, and rescued many persons from the begging mafia. * Joined hands with NGOs and started community policing with the help of local residents. *

At December-end, a new beat was started, in which the policemen would be deployed on the roads from morning till night.