According to a report prepared by the Metropolitan Police Range Kathmandu, 31 criminal cases were recorded in the year 2065 during the festival. While 33 cases were recorded in 2064.
The number of public offence cases during the two-year period stood at 16. The year 2064 witnessed three cases of homicide, one case of rape and two cases of burglary, while in 2065 criminal activities turned more violent with kidnapping (1), drug trafficking (1) and most alarmingly ´miscellaneous cases´ (11) including accidents and alcohol-induced death and suicide in the police records.
Dashain is the period when criminal activities are carried out at an all time high in the capital as people tend to spend lavishly. An official involved in preparing the report said that this year´s record was the best in 14 years.
The Metropolitan police attributed the decline in criminal activities to its Dashain and Tihar Special Security Plan, which was announced on the eve of the festival. “We carried out the plan effectively and were able to improve on past records,” said chief of Metropolitan Police Range Kathmandu, SP Navaraj Silwal.
The Metropolitan Police said it was able to prevent several criminal activities during the period owing to special security arrangements backed by intelligence-based policing. Seizure of a pistol and explosives from various criminal gangs in Kapan are among such success stories.
The Special Security Plan will be carried out till Tihar. Silwal said the police would carry out round-the-clock surveillance and set up check-points at major points along the highways to prevent the import and use of firecrackers in the capital.
As per the Special Security Plan, the Metropolitan Police had set up check-points along the highways, carried out round-the-clock patrolling by CRV vans and on-foot patrolling. It had also conducted a special awareness campaign to prevent burglaries during the festival.
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