NCRB reports says Kolkata safest city in India; experts allege suppression of facts
Kolkata, Aug 31: Kolkata has topped the list of cities with the least number of cognisable offences per lakh of its population, making the metropolis the safest city of India in 2021, according to the latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report.
The city scored 103.4 per 1-lakh people in terms of the number of cognisable offences, marching ahead of Pune, which stood second (256.8) and Hyderabad (259.9), the data showed.
Kanpur (336.5), Bengaluru (427.2) and Mumbai (428.4) were among the other cities in the list.
Kolkata had scored 129.5 in the 2020 report of NCRB. Its IPC crime rate declined to 92.6 in 2021 compared with 109.9 the previous year, as per the report.
Experts, however, expressed apprehension over Kolkata's dwindling crime numbers in the report.
"This data seems to be quite absurd. There is clearly suppression of facts on the part of the state government," claimed Ruby Sain, former head of the department of sociology and coordinator of the Centre for the Study of Religion and Society at Jadavpur University.
"Most criminal activities in Kolkata are going unreported, and I am quite confident the data provided by the authorities is not the actual picture," she told PTI.
Emeritus Professor of Sociology, Presidency College, Prasanta Ray, also echoed Sain's views, and said there has been suppression of facts by the state government, leading to a glorified picture for West Bengal .
"Criminal activities in the city go unreported for several reasons and that is a fact. If you ask me to believe in this data, I would say the migration of youths in search of work to other far-off states could be one reason. But I still have my doubts," Ray said.
According to former Kolkata Police Joint CP (Crime) Pallab Kanti Ghosh, the "hard work" of the dedicated police personnel was instrumental in this achievement.
"The city's crime rate has been sliding for the past seven years We must thank our dedicated policemen for making this possible," Ghosh said.
He also said that despite the jurisdiction of Kolkata Police being expanded following the addition of areas like Behala, Thakurpukur, Kasba and Survey Park, the infrastructure remained "unchanged".
"Most of the crimes these days are happening in the areas that were added, but our police officers are dealing with those quite intelligently. However, we must not forget that conventional crimes have come down as criminals are going high-tech now, Ghosh added.
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Poll affidavit: Modi's assets total Rs 3 crore, mostly fixed deposits
Varanasi (UP), May 14: Prime Minister Narendra Modi possesses assets amounting to a little over Rs 3 crore, most of it in bank fixed deposits, according to his election affidavit.
As required, Modi submitted the affidavit while filing his nomination papers Tuesday as an election candidate from the Varanasi parliamentary constituency, a seat he has held twice earlier.
According to the affidavit displayed on the Election Commission website, his movable assets are worth Rs 3,02,06,889. Most of this amount is in the form of fixed deposits with the State Bank of India that total over 2.85 crore.
Other assets include four gold rings weighing 45 grams valued at Rs 2.67 lakh, cash in hand totalling Rs 52,920, National Savings Certificates worth Rs 9.12 lakh and income tax deduction of Rs 3.33 lakh for the past financial year.
Under “immovable assets”, the affidavit says "Nil". Typically, land and houses fall under this category.
Jashodaben is mentioned as Modi’s spouse. On assets held by her, the document says "Not known". The two live apart.
No criminal case is pending against Modi, nor has he been convicted of any crime, according to the document. There are no liabilities due to the government.
The prime minister is described as a resident of Ahmedabad, and his profession as public life and political activity.
He did his SSC in 1967, got a BA degree from Delhi University in 1978 and an MA from Gujarat University in 1983.
In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Modi had declared assets worth Rs 2.5 crore including a residential plot in Gujarat's Gandhinagar, fixed deposits of Rs 1.27 crore and Rs 38,750 cash in hand.
In the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, he disclosed total assets of Rs 1.65 crore.
The PM has a website and is on Facebook, microblogging site X, YouTube, Instagram and WhatsApp, according to the affidavit.
