Jharkhand records more bank robberies, rapes than in 2014

Jharkhand has witnessed a rise in the crime graph in 2015 as more incidents of rape, kidnapping and bank dacoities were reported till August compared to the previous year, police said.

This comes as an irony since Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his election rallies has been attacking Bihar for its rising crime graph whereas in Jharkhand the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is the ruling party with Raghubar Das as the chief minister.

On Saturday, three robbers looted Rs.2.64 lakh from Gramin Bank at Pitij in Chatra district. After committing the crime, they came back to the bank to retrieve their helmet and managed to escape without any hindrance, police said.

On October 6, unidentified criminals looted Rs.9 lakh from the State Bank of India (SBI) branch in Palamu district of Jharkhand. According to official figures, five cases of bank robberies and seven cases of dacoities at banks have been reported in the state so far this year.

In 2014, only one bank robbery was reported, though the year saw the Lok Sabha and assembly polls being held in the state.

Besides, a woman was raped in Bokaro district by an autorickshaw driver in front of her ailing husband on Saturday, police said.

Reacting to the rising crime graphs, a senior police official, on the condition of anonymity, told IANS: "We are concerned about the rising graph of kidnapping and bank robberies. Rape is a social issue and police cannot stop rape cases unless the society takes a call."

As for rape cases, 905 cases have been reported till August this year. During the same period in 2014, the state recorded 792 rapes.

Till August, 1,261 kidnapping cases were registered, compared to 996 till August 2014.