Organizing a press conference at Police Headquarters, Naxal, Nepal Police said, however, that the crime rates were higher in the least quake-affected zones. DIG Kamal Singh Bam, spokesman for the police, said, "Unlike other countries that faced disasters, we have seen lesser number of crimes."
Crimes like homicide, robbery, organized crime and financial crime, kidnapping and hostage-taking were lowered in the month of April. But human trafficking, rape, attempted rape, petty thefts, drugs offences, fraud and black marketeering were higher over the same period, according to police.Crime levels were lower in Kathmandu Valley and the Central and Mid-Western Regions whereas the rates were higher in the Eastern and Western Regions in comparison to the pre-quake levels, police said. "It is a matter for investigation why crime levels were higher in the Eastern and Western Regions, that were comparatively less affected by the earthquake," Spokesperson Bom said.
From mid-April to mid-May, 53 cases of homicide, 374 suicides, seven kidnappings, 15 cases of human trafficking, 58 rapes and attempted rapes and 19 cases of black marketeering were recorded.
Police said 92 search and rescue operations were carried out with the deployment of 1,124 police personnel for about 20 days, and four persons were rescued alive, and 1,154 bodies were pulled out of the earthquake rubble, including 59 in Kathmandu Valley. Police also informed that 74 bodies of people from abroad have been recovered to date.
Of the total of 8,668 dead, 38 percent were women, 30 percent were men and 31 percent children. The highest number of injured were in Kathmandu, Lalitpur and Bhaktapur, where the population is dense, police said.
During the quake, 194 police offices were totally destroyed and 670 partially destroyed.
Police have also highlighted stress management or counseling for its personnel and self-defense instructions for women and children. They have also urged the speedy identification of bodies being kept at the police forensic lab at Maharajgunj.
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