**Bhubaneswar**: Heartrending brutal end to love affairs in shape of molestations and rapes in the twin cities of Cuttack and Bhubaneswar in Odisha have remarkably risen last year.
The twin cities witnessed a spurt in rape cases in 2015, according to annual crime review by the Commissionerate Police.
The police said in most of the cases the rape accused were known to the survivors.
According to the annual report, total 144 rape cases (Bhubaneswar -77 and Cuttack- 67) were registered in 2016 against 125 in 2015. Cuttack saw more such cases compared to Bhubaneswar.
The report also revealed that 49 rapes occurred due to love affairs or elopement while one gang rape happened in year of 2016.
The police said around 49 victims were minor in Bhubaneswar and 27 minors from Cuttack respectively last year.
The police however said percentage of detection of such cases has increased.
The figures were 127 in 2015 and 138 in 2014.
The detection rate in rape cases has improved marginally by one per cent. In 2016, the Commissionerate Police recorded 99.3 per cent in nabbing offenders of sexual assault. The number of cases registered under Section 498 (A) of the IPC (domestic violence) was 456. The figure was 574 in 2015, which means there has been a drop by 21 per cent.
The arrest of gangsters and their associates also led to huge recovery of illegal arms during the period. The recoveries have almost doubled in the last two years. Total 157 illegal firearms including 54 pistols and 22 revolvers were seized in 2016. The figures were 113 in 2015 and 86 in 2014.
Dacoities and Robberies in 2016: The UCO Bank loot at Rajmahal, attack and loot of elderly couple at Jagamara painted an unsafe picture of the State Capital. As many as 251 cases of robbery and 17 cases of dacoity were registered during the period.
The City Police booked 994 persons under Excise Act and 63 persons under the NDPS Act in 2016. Crimes like thefts and vehicle lifting reported a downward trend with registration of 1,902 cases compared to 2,328 in 2015. As many as 64 murder cases were registered in 2016 while 161 rioting cases were reported during the period.
The total number of cognizable offences recorded by the Commissionerate Police in 2016 was 9,783 as compared to 10,086 cases in 2015.
