Pune Police Commissioner Writes To Supriya Sule Rebuts Claims Of Deteriorating Law And Order

Amid mounting criticism of the Pune police following the recent hooch tragedy that claimed several lives in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad, Pune police commissioner Amitesh Kumar has written to Nationalist Congress Party/NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar/SP) MP Supriya Sule... Amid mounting criticism of the Pune police following the recent hooch tragedy that claimed several lives in Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad, Pune police commissioner Amitesh Kumar has written to Nationalist Congress Party/NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar/SP) MP Supriya Sule, defending the city’s law and order situation and asserting that major offences have shown a declining trend. In a detailed, nine-page letter addressed to Sule on Monday, Kumar has said that the police department wishes to place certain ‘objective observations’ before the public regarding crime in the city. Kumar has argued that statistical data points to a reduction in several categories of crime over the past few years, describing Pune as ‘one of the safer cities compared to 19 large cities in India’. Kumar has said that there is a decline in many major offences in 2026 as compared to previous years. The letter states that attempt-to-murder cases have dropped by around 27%, offences against the human body have dropped by 3%, chain-snatching by 56%, robberies by 36%, house-breaking cases by 14%, and theft cases by 24%. While murder cases have registered a marginal increase of 6%, 10 of these cases stem from family disputes. Vehicle thefts and molestation cases have also declined. Kumar has rejected Sule’s recent claims that Pune is the ‘crime capital’ of the country. Referring to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data, he has said that Pune ranks favourably among metropolitan cities in terms of cognisable offences. “It is incorrect to describe Pune as the crime capital of India. NCRB data shows that Pune remains one of the safer cities in the country,” Kumar has written. Referring to NCRB statistics, Kumar has said that Pune compares favourably with several metropolitan cities and ranks lower than many major urban centres in terms of the rate of cognisable offences and serious crimes. The police chief has attributed the reduction in crime to measures such as increased night patrolling, GPS-based monitoring, intensified crime-prevention drives, and proactive policing. He has highlighted the force’s response in several recent incidents, claiming that timely intervention by police personnel helped save lives and prevent further crimes. Recently, Sule had strongly criticised Kumar over Pune’s law and order situation and demanded that he be sent on compulsory leave. On Saturday, Sule labelled Pune as the ‘crime capital’, citing an increase in serious crimes and recent incidents including the hooch tragedy. She alleged that the police administration had failed to effectively curb criminal activities. She urged chief minister Devendra Fadnavis to fix accountability and take immediate corrective measures to restore public confidence in the police force. “The hooch tragedy and recent incidents of crime that prompted the police to shut eateries by 10pm show that law and order in Pune is deteriorating. Time has come to send Pune police commissioner Amitesh Kumar on compulsory