Bhubaneswar, April 26: A fall in crime rate in the Infocity area in the first three months of this year indicated that the newly established police station here is serving its purpose well.

Infocity police station was one of the two police stations established after the commissionerate system came into force on January 1, 2008, in the twin cities of Bhubaneswar and Cuttack.

According to records, the 22 cases that were registered in this police station area in the first quarter of this year are much less in number than that of the previous year. While a total of 144 cases were reported in this police station in 2010, the number of cases was 130 when it came into existence in 2009.

The average monthly crime rate here in 2009 and 2010 was 12. But in the first quarter of this year, it stands at just seven. Several renowned educational institutions, including KIIT University and the Central Institute of Plastic Engineering and Technology are located in this area. Apart from this, the Shikharchandi hill — a popular picnic spot — is also situated here.

“Earlier, the area used to witness crimes such as snatching, robbery and theft frequently. Of late, land related cases have also started to come to the police station,” said an officer.

While statistics show 1,115 cases were registered in the first three months of this year in the entire Bhubaneswar urban police department of the city police, this police station accounted for only 22 of these, which is nearly two per cent of the cases registered in Bhubaneswar.

With its jurisdiction of over an area of 28 square kilometres, this police station had registered just above three per cent of the total crimes registered in the capital city in 2009 and 2010. In Bhubaneswar urban police department, 4,476 cases were registered in 2009 and 4,417 cases were registered in 2010.

Deputy commissioner of police Himanshu Lal credited the city police for the declining rate of crime. “Focused patrolling has helped in curbing crimes in this area. Besides, better policing has also helped reduce crime rate,” said Lal.

Sources said that police personnel had been deployed at various sensitive and crime-prone areas. Patrolling had been intensified in areas such as Big Bazar Square, Kanan Vihar Square, and Shikharchandi. Earlier, these areas were known for petty crimes such as motorcycle theft and snatching.

With several renowned educational institutions, as well as the corporate houses such as Infosys and Wipro, are setting up their branches here, the Infocity area witnessed an increased crime rate before 2009. The entire area was under Chandrasekharpur police station and it was very difficult for the police to cover such a vast area. Infocity police station, along with Nandan Kanan police station, was set up to curb the growing crime rate here.

“Earlier, the area was a part of the outskirts of the city. As most part of it was uninhabited, it was known as a den of criminals. But situations have improved here and we now feel safe after the police station was set up,” said D. Raju, who resides in Shikharchandi area.