Tripura law minister Ratan Lal Nath claimed late on Thursday night that the crime rate in the state had dropped and expressed his dissatisfaction at the number of the crimes that had taken place in the state.

Nath told reporters, “I am not happy with the law-and-order situation in Tripura, according to the data of 2018-2019. However, there are obviously ups and downs in the overall situation within the state in terms of different cases.”

Nath said the number of cases in terms of rape incidents, murders, molestation and torturing of housewives has decreased in the state after the BJP-IPFT government was formed in the state.

He also provided statistics of incidents and cases separately during Left Front rule and the BJP-IPFT’s regime.

“Altogether 241 rape incidents occurred in 2016-2017 during the Left Front government and 227 rape incidents in the 2018-2019 BJP government, 269 murders took place in 2016-2017 while 266 murders took place in 2018 and 2019. There are 474 incidents of molestations in 2016 and 2017 and 426 molestations in 2018 and 2019, 778 tortures took place in 2016 and 2017 while 719 tortures took place in 2018 and 2019, and 1,974 cases of crime against women took place during 2016 and 2017 whereas 1,919 incidents took place in 2018 and 2019,” Nath said.

He also claimed that he was not happy with the performance of the law-and-order situation of the state as the digits need to lessen more.

“The number has decreased in the state but I am not happy with this reduction in number,” said Nath. He added that the number of theft cases increased in 2018 and 2019 while murders, rapes, molestations and tortures, decreased slightly in number.

Also, 10,521 criminal cases were registered after the BJP-IPFT government was formed in the state whereas 7,988 criminal cases were registered in 2016 and 2017 during the Left Front’s regime.

“Earlier, the Left Front government didn’t give a free hand to police administration and now, police officials are given a free hand to perform their duties neutrally. I threw a challenge to the CPM-led Left leaders in Tripura to sit with me and address the press personnel jointly regarding different data during their rule in the state. If you people have the guts, let’s sit together,” Nath said.

He urged the Opposition political parties not to misguide people with fake information and asked them to come forward with a positive outlook and innovative thoughts.