July 18: Incidents of banking offense have been rising alarmingly in Kathmandu district lately.    
Altogether 7,101 cases of banking offense were recorded in the last fiscal year (FY 2022/23) against 3,715 in FY 2021/22. The District Police Range, Kathmandu shared this information amif a press conference on Monday.    
SSP Dan Bahadur Karki, chief of District Police Range Kathmandu, said that the banking offence cases have increased in Kathmandu by nearly two folds over the past two years.    
Similarly, there has been a surge in the cases of theft in the district, said SSP Karki, informing that 647 cases of thefts were recorded in the last fiscal year against 368 in the fiscal year 2021/22.    
The cases of murders have, however, decreased from 37 in the fiscal year 2021/22 to 27 in the fiscal year 2022/23, according to the police.    
Likewise, a total of 368 cases related to the abuse of narcotic drugs or illegal sales and distribution of the narcotic drugs were registered within Kathmandu in the last fiscal year.    
The police data showed that 341 cases of suicide were recorded in the same period.      
SSP Karki admitted that the police have not been able to deliver optimally in combating crime and criminal activities since many of the CCTV cameras, considered an important tool in crime investigation, installed in Kathmandu were malfunctioning presently.    
Of the 1,077 CCTV cameras installed in the places under the scope of the District Police Range, Kathmandu, only 532 are operative at present, it was shared during the press conference. -- RSS