Chandigarh, February 1
Crime continues to be a way life in the land of khaps and honour killings with Haryana recording three murders, two rapes, four kidnappings and three dacoities daily last year.

In fact, the state reported 983 murder and 687 rape cases last year, slightly less than the 2011 figures of 1,061 murders and 723 rapes.

Other crimes, including kidnapping (1,313 against 960 in 2011), dowry deaths (258 as compared to 256 in 2011), dacoities/robberies (915 against 797 in 2011), and dowry cases (3,138 against 2,739 in 2011) also soared, a major cause for concern for Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, who faces Assembly and parliamentary elections next year.

Sonepat topped the list of districts with the highest crime rate in the state, registering 86 murders, as against 81 last year, says official data collected by The Tribune. In 2011, millennium city Gurgaon was at the top with 89 murders.

Bhiwani, which accounted for 74 murders in 2011, was bracketed with Gurgaon with 81 murders. Mewat with just 12 murder followed by Panchkula (15) and Fatehabad (17) continued to be the least “crime-prone” districts in the state.

Karnal along the GT Road continued to be the “rape capital” of the state, registering 63 cases - one more than 2011. It was followed by Faridabad (46), and Hisar and Gurgaon (44 each). The Hooda government drew a lot of flak last year for rising number of rape cases.

Sonepat continued on the crime trail with 30 dowry deaths (23 in 2011) followed by Karnal (23) and Bhiwani (19).

Soaring crime graph has provided fresh ammunition to the Opposition to target the beleagured Hooda government, which is fighting on several fronts. “There is a complete jungle raj in the state with crime against women and the downtrodden on the rise,” alleged BJP president Ram Bilas Sharma.

Sources claimed the police had succeeded in containing crime to some extent.

In spite of claims by the Hooda government about improved law and order situation in the state, the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) of the Ministry of Home Affairs has dubbed Haryana, having a national population average of 2 per cent, the 12th “most criminal” state in the country.