Mumbai: The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report for 2024, released on Wednesday, showed an overall decline in crime across India’s metropolitan cities and states, even as Mumbai recorded rises in total offences, crimes against women and children, and cybercrime. While several traditional offences such as murder, robbery and house break-ins declined, concerns persisted over cybercrime and economic frauds.A senior IPS officer attributed the decline in major crimes to CCTV surveillance, GPS-based patrolling and preventive action against repeat offenders. Another officer cited targeted drives, faster chargesheeting and speedy trials as contributing factors. The NCRB data showed an 11% decline in offences across 19 metropolitan cities, with 8.4 lakh cases in 2024 compared to 9.4 lakh in 2023. Across states and Union Territories, cases declined by 5.7% during the same period. But Mumbai recorded a 7.1% rise in total crimes, with 70,054 cases in 2024 against 65,441 in 2023. The city registered an average of 191 crimes per day. It ranked second in total crimes, rising from fifth position in 2023, though it stood seventeenth in crime rate per lakh population. An officer said the rise in crime in Mumbai could be a result of stricter policing and better registration of FIRs. “In that way, good policing in a city or a state can reflect in a spike in crime. But it doesn’t necessarily mean that other cities are safer. It’s how data are studied and factored in,” he said.The report noted declines in major IPC offences such as murder, robbery, chain-snatching, attempted robbery, extortion and house break-ins. However, crimes such as molestation, sexual harassment, rape, dowry deaths and POCSO offences increased. In Mumbai, thefts rose by 23.8%, while molestation increased by 10.8% and rape cases by 8%. Sexual harassment cases rose by 13.6%, and dowry murders from 20 to 22. In contrast, murder declined by 13% and robbery by 26.2%. Mumbai’s crime detection rate stood at 74% in 2024, compared to 76% in 2023. Among cities, Kochi recorded the highest crime rate, followed by Delhi and Surat, while Maharashtra ranked eighth among states.Crimes against women in Mumbai rose by 5.5%, while crimes against children increased by 8.5%. Crimes against senior citizens rose sharply by 52.7%, while juvenile crime declined by 11%. Cybercrime in Mumbai rose by 22%, cheating cases by 52.3%, though credit/debit and online frauds declined by 22.7%. Fake social media and morphing cases also fell by 17.5%. Experts noted that only a small fraction of cyber complaints are converted into FIRs, despite large volumes of complaints received annually by Mumbai and state police.The NCRB also observed that states such as Uttar Pradesh and Delhi have introduced online FIR registration for theft-related offences, which may affect reporting patterns and comparability across states.Across 19 metropolitan cities, 6.9 lakh people were arrested in 2024. Among metropolitan cities, Kolkata recorded the highest chargesheeting rate at 95.3%, followed by Kozhikode and Kochi.Former DGP Praveen Dixit credited technology and policing reforms but stressed that “cybercrime and economic frauds need greater attention”.
