RAWALPINDI, July 8 Murders, burglaries and kidnappings in Rawalpindi registered a significant increase during the last six months, official records show.

Police registered 8,230 crime cases by the end of June this year, 1,490 cases more than registered during the same period last year.

More significantly, the figure of 8,230 does not account for all the crime committed in the garrison city between January 1 and June 30 as in majority of the cases victims face reluctance on the part of police to register crime and, because of that, many victims just don't bother to report to avoid the hassle.

Police records show that murder cases rose from 126 in the first six months in 2008 to 136 in the same period in 2009. Cases of attempted murder however fell - from 182 in 2008 to 174 in 2009.

Burglaries increased by over 15 per cent, to 267 in 2009 against 232 in 2008, whereas thefts remained stable at 350.

Although the risk of being a victim of any type of crime remained at high level as crime figures recorded by police show a continued rise in burglaries and murders, for the first time robberies in all their forms fell to 212 cases in 2009 from 233 recorded in 2008.

The figures show at least 177 motorbikes were either snatched at gunpoint or stolen from different parts of the city in the first six months in 2009 compared to 130 motorbikes either snatched or stolen from different parts of Rawalpindi in the same period in 2008.

The statistics show a considerable fall in car theft or snatching cases. The car theft dropped to 370 in six months of 2009 from 404 recorded in the same period last year. However, the total number of stolen or snatched cars was 528 as compared to the 571 in the same period in 2008.

Although there was a slight improvement in the recovery of stolen goods by the police during this period, how many victims of the crime got their looted valuables back remained a question mark.

The figures show an increase in kidnapping and rape cases as 227 kidnapping, 26 rape cases were reported in the first six months in 2009 compared to the 204 cases in 2008. The statistics show that fleeing of accused from police custody fell to four in 2009.