Crime rates in Thimphu have been on the rise for the last few years, however, Thimphu police, this year, recorded a steep drop in the crime rates compared to last year. According to police, the decrease is due to the national lockdown and intensive patrolling carried out by the police.
The Thimphu Police Station registered a little more than a thousand cases to date compared to the almost 2,000 registered cases, last year.
Most of the crimes, according to the Officer Commanding of the Thimphu Police Station were detected through the assistance of closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage and due to intensive patrolling by the police round the clock.
Among all the crimes, drugs, battery and larceny are the three common crimes recorded by the police. However, these crimes have reduced this year compared to the previous year. Last year there were more than 300 drug-related cases, whereas this year there are only about 200 registered cases. Similarly, battery and larceny cases have also reduced to 178 and 143 from 265 and 390 respectively.
According to the Officer Commanding, shortage of manpower still remains one of the challenges. However he said, to further reduce the crime rates, the police will install more surveillance equipment.
Pema Seldon Tshering
