MANGALURU: The education hub of Mangaluru city and its surroundings have accounted for nearly 30 percent of all cases registered under the Narcotic Drugs & Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act in the state since the beginning of this year till July 10.
Of the 1,791 cases registered in the state, 521 were from the coastal city. It even pipped Bengaluru and recorded the highest number of substance abuse cases. Bengaluru came far second with 231 cases during the first half of the year. However, given the statistics of the previous years, Bengaluru is likely to record the highest number of cases as the year progresses.
According to statistics shared by Home Minister G Parameshwara in reply to a question raised by MLC Ivan D’Souza during the recent legislature session, the state witnessed nearly 15,000 cases registered under NDPS Act in the last two-and-a-half years. In 2022, the state saw 6,406 cases with more than 62 per cent (4,027) of them being registered in Bengaluru, followed by Mangaluru (398), Chikkamagaluru (262) and Udupi district (262). The number of cases in Bagalkot, Koppal, Vijayanagar and Yadgir district were in single digits.
Over 60 per cent of the (3,881) cases registered in 2022 are still pending trial, while the accused were convicted in just over 36 per cent (2,365) of cases. The accused were acquitted in 83 cases, while 14 cases turned out to be false. Thirteen cases were undetected, while the investigation is still on with 15 cases.
In 2023, with 3,443 cases, Bengaluru city accounted for more than 50 per cent of the cases (6,764) in the state, followed by Mangaluru (713), Udupi (272), Shivamogga (253), Bengaluru Rural (253) and Chikkamagaluru (222).
The conviction rate dropped to 33.70 per cent (2,280) in 2023. Of the 6,764 cases registered that year, 4,187 are still pending. Investigation is still on in 200 cases, of which 14 were false and six cases were undetected.
This year, however, the conviction rate so far is just above 10 per cent, and of the total 1,791 cases, 884 are pending trial and 717 cases are being investigated.
