LUCKNOW: The conditions of 1943 were more in favour of the forces of law and order than they have been for several years and there was a consequent reduction in the total aggregate of crime for the year, says the Government resolution on the report of the Police administration in the United Provinces. Variations in the different classes of crime were wide, ranging from a very marked decrease in dacoity to a small increase in thefts.

The largest decrease in any of the forms of serious crime was the marked drop from 1,242 to 784 in the number of dacoities. It was most unfortunate that a number of convicted dacoits gained their freedom by desertion from a military pioneer unit. Several dacoities have been definitely established as their work, and it is virtually certain that they were responsible for many more.

It is also a good omen for the future that the number of persons convicted for this form of crime remained high. The holding up by armed gangsters of messengers carrying large sums

of money, or of banks, which had reared its head in a few of the larger cities during 1942, appears to have been effectively put down. (Dawn, Delhi)

Published in Dawn, September 19th, 2014