Chandigarh (Haryana) [India], December 29 (ANI): Haryana Police recorded an overall decline in registered crime in 2025 while intensifying action against organised gangs, cybercriminals and habitual violent offenders, and will enter 2026 with a sharper focus on technology, forensic science and last-mile delivery of justice.

According to official data (as of December 28), the total number of cognisable crimes under the BNS and special and local laws fell from 1,35,574 in 2024 to 1,27,850 in 2025, a reduction of 7,724 cases, or about 5.7 per cent.

Crime under BNS alone declined from 1,10,738 to 1,07,242 cases, a fall of around 3.16 per cent, while cases under special and local laws dropped by more than 17 per cent.

Crimes against persons, property and women showed a clear downward trend during the year. Murder cases reduced from 958 to 904, down about 5.6 per cent, while cases of grievous hurt declined by nearly 9.5 per cent. Police said swift response, proactive patrolling and intelligence-led operations helped foil over 100 planned murders across the state, particularly in the last quarter of the year.

Property crimes also registered significant improvements, with robbery cases down by about 24 per cent, snatchings by over 12 per cent, and burglaries by more than 13 per cent. Officials attributed the decline to improved preventive policing, hotspot-based deployment, and tighter local-level surveillance.

Crimes against women showed notable improvement, with rape cases dropping sharply from 1,373 in 2024 to 1,025 in 2025, a reduction of over 25 per cent. Cases of molestation, sexual harassment and dowry deaths also registered declines. Kidnapping and abduction cases, along with offences under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, showed a downward trend, reflecting better community outreach and faster investigation workflows.

Haryana Police said it consolidated 'last-mile domination' by identifying and incarcerating more than 4,000 violent and repeat offenders through intensive drives such as Operation Trackdown and Operation Hotspot Domination, thereby substantially weakening organised crime networks and extortion rackets across districts. Through sustained surveillance, human intelligence and technical monitoring, more than 100 planned murders and targeted attacks were detected and neutralised between October and December, preventing loss of life and reinforcing public confidence.

Dedicated operations against inter-state and overseas-based gangsters led to the extradition and deportation of key gang leaders and associates operating from foreign soil, disrupting command-and-control structures that earlier functioned from outside India. Focused drives in identified hotspots also led to the sanitisation of crime-prone zones with enhanced police presence and coordination with local communities and district administrations.

The state continued to maintain a leading position in fighting cybercrime by scaling up state-level cybercrime police stations and specialised verticals for financial fraud, social media crime and online child safety. Faster reporting, integration with national cybercrime portals, and real-time coordination with banks and intermediaries led to improved detection and recovery of cyber financial fraud cases.

Haryana also made major investments in forensic science, significantly upgrading laboratory infrastructure and scientific capabilities in DNA profiling, cyber and mobile forensics, ballistics and narcotics analysis. These improvements strengthened charge sheets, contributed to higher conviction rates in serious offences and reduced pendency of forensic examination requests from field units.

During the year, Haryana Police successfully implemented the new national criminal law framework, including the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and allied codes, by overhauling registration, investigation and documentation processes. Extensive training programmes for investigating officers, prosecutors, and support staff, along with updated SOPs and digital templates, ensured a smooth transition at the police station level without disrupting citizen services.

In 2026, the force plans to deepen technology-driven policing through expansion of CCTV grids, AI-assisted analytics for crime mapping, predictive policing tools and integrated command-and-control platforms. Strengthening district-level cyber units, creating specialised verticals for dark-web and crypto-related offences, expanding forensic capacity and emphasising victim-centric, community-oriented policing will remain key priorities as Haryana Police aims to build on the momentum of 2025 and make the state safer and more secure. (ANI)