Newindpress
Bangalore, Jun 4: The IT city is close behind Mumbai, Delhi and Hyderabad in the race to bag the fourth place in economic (white collar) crime in the country.
The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) 2005 annual report rates Bangalore as the fifth highest crime prone city, with 9.2 percent of the overall crimes in the country.
Mumbai, Delhi and Hyderabad still remain on the top of the list of crime prone cities, but lately Bangalore has ‘achieved a high status’ along with the major metros.
Reports reveal that Bangalore has 1,895 cases of economic crime. Though the city has lower terror attacks and high-profile crimes than those on top, the increase in white collar crimes has pitchforked Bangalore to a fourth position.
Some of the most common white-collar crimes included tax evasion, insurance and credit card frauds, intellectual property theft, stock market manipulations and such other frauds which are done sans blood and sweat.
On an average Hyderabad reports 3,029 cases, Delhi has 2,808 cases, Mumbai has 2,369 cases, followed by other cities like Vijayawada and Kolkata.
According to senior police officials in the CCRB, Bangalore reports promptly all crimes without discrimination. This is one reason for making Bangalore notoriuos.
“This has led to Bangalore getting rated high”, said the official.
On the similar lines, another senior police official bemoaned that the city was getting overrated because even the most petty crime is reported.
“Karnataka is less corrupt and safer than others. Though a sudden spurt in economic crimes have been noticed in the city, it is still a safe place for common people,” he added.
Bangalore is still prone to a large number of cyber crimes with 38 cases, followed by Chennai (20) and Delhi (10).
However, when both non-economic and economic crimes are combined, Delhi has the highest number, followed by Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Pune, Jaipur and Kolkata.
The 2006 crime records for the major cities in the country has not been compiled yet, said sources.