Delhi Tops Metros with 275,402 Cognizable Offenses in 2024

Delhi recorded the highest number of cognizable offenses among India's 19 metropolitan cities in 2024, with 275,402 cases registered, according to the National Crime Records Bureau's Crime in India 2024 report. The figure marked a 15 percent decline from 323,549 cases in 2023 and an 8 percent drop from 298,988 in 2022, yet Delhi's crime rate of 1,688 per lakh population remained the highest nationwide. The national capital's total represented about 4.7 percent of the country's 5.885 million cognizable offenses.

Among the cities, including Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai and others with populations exceeding 20 lakh, Delhi far outpaced rivals, registering nearly five times as many cases as Mumbai's 51,428 and over seven times Bengaluru's. However, its chargesheeting rate, indicating cases advanced for prosecution, stood at a low 31.9 percent, the worst among metros.

Crimes against women led concerns, with 13,396 cases topping the list and accounting for more than a quarter of such incidents across metros. This included 1,058 assaults, over twice Jaipur's 497, and 5,580 kidnappings and abductions, nearly 35 percent of the metro total. The figure held steady from 13,439 cases in 2023....