Outsiders behind rising crime in Chandigarh

Amit Sharma

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 1

A large number of people contributing towards the rising crime graph in the city are outsiders. As many as 42.57 per cent convicts and 40.34 per cent undertrials lodged at Burail Jail in 2019 were outsiders.

The prison statistics of the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) reveal that of the 404 convicts, including 16 women, lodged at Burail Jail as on December 31, 2019, only 228 were from Chandigarh, while 172 belonged to other states and the remaining four from other countries.

Similarly, there were 580 undertrials, including 33 women, in the jail as on December 31, 2019. Of them, 332 were city residents, while 234 were from other states and 14 from other countries.

The police claim that besides being an education hub, the city witnesses a lot of visitors from neighbouring states, especially Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh, due to which the probability of outsiders indulging in crime is also high. “The nightlife in Chandigarh is active with discotheques and bars attracting visitors even from neighbouring states, who have been seen indulging in brawls and firing incidents in the past,” said a police official.

The NCRB report states that almost 52.5 per cent convicts lodged at Burail Jail were aged between 18 and 30. Of the 404 convicts as on December 31, 2019, 212 were between 18 and 30 years of age, 158 convicts (39 per cent) were aged between 30 and 50, while only 34 convicts (8.4 per cent) were above the age of 50. According to the report, 984 inmates were lodged in the jail in 2019.