State sees 6% drop in crime in 2025: DGP

Mangalagiri: Director-general of police (DGP) Harish Kumar expressed satisfaction over the decline in the crime rate across the state stating that the state witnessed a marked improvement in the overall law and order situation during 2025, reflecting a decisive shift towards technology-led, intelligence-driven, and outcome-oriented policing.

Crimes which fall under IPC/BNS declined by about 6 percent, from 1.10 lakh cases in 2024 to 1.03 lakh cases in 2025. The reduction was broad-based, covering violent crimes, property offences, crimes against vulnerable sections, narcotics-related offences, and cybercrime, indicating effective preventive policing, stronger supervision, focused investigations, and better use of technology.

The DGP said that overall, 2025 stands out as a year of measurable progress in crime reduction, investigation quality, public safety, and institutional capacity, marking a clear transition to modern, technology-enabled policing in Andhra Pradesh.

Inspector general (operations and technical services) Srikanth said that serious bodily offences showed a clear downward trend. Murders, kidnappings, grievous hurt, simple hurt, and rioting cases registered notable declines, with rioting cases reducing by more than half.

While there was a marginal increase in attempt-to-murder cases, this has been identified for focused monitoring. Overall, violent crime levels demonstrate a sustained reduction.

Srikanth said that property crimes remained largely stable with a slight decline. Theft, house-breaking, robbery, and dacoity either reduced or remained steady. A detection rate of 56 percent and a recovery rate of 55 percent—well above the national average—reflect improved investigative effectiveness rather than under-reporting.

Referring to the crimes against women and children, Srikanth said that they also declined. Total crimes against women reduced marginally, with significant drops in serious categories such as rape, murder of women, assault, and cyber offences against women.

The number of POCSO cases declined by around 11 percent. Importantly, 510 convictions were secured in crimes against women and POCSO cases, including death penalties, life imprisonments, and long-term rigorous sentences. Preventive and victim-support measures improved significantly, with better tracking of missing persons and large-scale community outreach and self-defence programmes.

Noticeably, crimes against SC/ST communities have declined sharply by over 24 percent, indicating effective preventive action and monitoring under the Atrocities Act, and prompt investigations, he pointed out.

However, economic offences showed an increase, attributed to improved registration, financial scrutiny, and detection of cheating and breach of trust cases. He said that cybercrime handling was extensive, with over 62,000 complaints addressed, large-scale fund freezing, and partial refunds to victims. The police adopted a financial-disruption model focusing on early freezing of fraud proceeds and victim recovery.

Road safety indicators improved in non-fatal accidents and injuries, though fatal accidents saw a marginal rise, underscoring the need for continued enforcement and engineering interventions.

Srikanth expressed satisfaction that anti-narcotics enforcement strengthened, with fewer NDPS cases, major seizures, asset attachments, and the achievement of zero ganja cultivation in specific districts under a strengthened EAGLE framework.

In the case of internal security, Srikanth said that major successes were recorded against Left wing extremism and terror modules, including arrests, surrenders, and foiling of extremist and terror-linked activities, reflecting strong intelligence coordination and inter-state cooperation.

Emergency response, forensics, and technology adoption saw major gains. ERSS–112 response times reduced by nearly 50 percent, forensic pendency was the lowest with high disposal rates, and forensic evidence contributed to over 70 percent of convictions. Advanced technologies such as AI tools, drones, CCTV analytics, and national databases significantly enhanced policing outcomes.

Conviction rates improved overall, police welfare spending exceeded Rs 53 crore, and capacity building was strengthened through large-scale recruitment, modernised training, and academic collaborations.