Why Kolkata continues to rank as India’s safest city
Times of India | 28 May 2026
KOLKATA: Despite RG Kar outrage and citywide protests, Kolkata has once again emerged as India’s safest metro city, recording the lowest rate of cognisable offences per lakh population among 19 Indian cities with populations exceeding 20 lakh, according to the latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) 2024 report.
The latest figures reaffirm Kolkata’s position at the top of the safety rankings among cities, a distinction the city has now maintained for five consecutive years.
The achievement comes despite 2024 being marked by one of Bengal’s most disturbing and politically charged incidents — the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital rape and murder case — which sparked weeks of protests, public outrage and nationwide attention.
The NCRB report showed Kolkata registered a cognisable offence rate of 93.7 per lakh population in 2024. Though the number was higher than the 83.9 recorded in 2023, it remained substantially lower than the crime rates reported by other metropolitan cities across India. Pune ranked second with 367.5 cognisable offences per lakh population, followed by Coimbatore at 369.2 and Mumbai at 380.4.
The national average for cognisable offences across the 19 metropolitan cities stood at 737.4 in 2024, significantly higher than Kolkata’s figure. The national average itself saw an improvement from 828 in 2023, indicating a broader reduction in urban crime rates across the country.
Kolkata’s long-term decline in crime rate
While the city witnessed a slight increase in crime figures in 2024 compared to the previous year, the broader trend over the last decade points towards a steady decline in crime rates. NCRB data shows Kolkata had recorded 159.6 cognisable offences per lakh population in 2016. Since then, the city’s numbers have consistently declined.
The crime rate dropped to 103.5 in 2021 and further to 86.5 in 2022 before touching 83.9 in 2023 — the lowest in recent years. Though the 2024 figure rose marginally to 93.7, Kolkata still maintained a massive lead over every other major metro city in the country.
The total number of cognisable cases in the city also reflects fluctuations over the years. Kolkata recorded 13,219 cognisable cases in 2024, compared with 11,843 cases in 2023. The city had registered 12,213 cases in 2022 and 14,591 cases in 2021.
Senior police officials said the overall trend indicates sustained improvements in policing and crime prevention rather than a temporary decline.
Officers attributed the city’s performance to stronger surveillance infrastructure, increased night patrolling, technological integration and more efficient law enforcement systems.
According to police officials, focused attention on strengthening infrastructure, deploying manpower strategically and improving coordination among police units helped reduce criminal activity in several sensitive zones across the city.
RG Kar case casts shadow over safety ranking
The NCRB findings have come at a time when Kolkata continues to grapple with the aftermath of the RG Kar Medical College and Hospital rape and murder case, which triggered widespread protests and emotional demonstrations across Bengal.
The incident became a major political and social flashpoint in 2024, with citizens, doctors, students and civil society groups repeatedly taking to the streets demanding justice for the victim and accountability from authorities. The protests continued for weeks and drew national attention to women’s safety and institutional accountability.
Against this backdrop, Kolkata retaining its position as India’s safest metro city has generated significant debate. Critics argue that the NCRB rankings, which are based on registered cognisable offences per lakh population, may not fully capture public perception of safety or the emotional impact of high-profile crimes.
However, police officials maintained that the rankings are based on statistical indicators and comparative crime data across metropolitan cities. They argued that isolated incidents, regardless of their severity and public impact, do not necessarily alter the city’s overall crime profile when measured against national averages.
How other metro cities performed
The NCRB report also highlighted the sharp contrast between Kolkata and several other metropolitan cities in terms of crime rates. Delhi once again recorded the highest rate of cognisable offences among metro cities at 1,824.5 offences per lakh population in 2024.
Lucknow followed with a crime rate of 1,083.1, while Kochi recorded 1,015.9 offences per lakh population. These figures were several times higher than Kolkata’s 2024 crime rate of 93.7.
Pune, which ranked second behind Kolkata, reported a crime rate of 367.5 per lakh population — nearly four times Kolkata’s figure. Coimbatore recorded 369.2, while Mumbai registered 380.4.
The NCRB data for 2023 had shown similar trends. Kolkata recorded 83.9 cognisable offences per lakh population that year, while Hyderabad stood at 332.3, Pune at 337.1 and Mumbai at 355.4. Kochi had emerged as the worst-performing metro in 2023 with 3,192.4 offences per lakh population, followed by Delhi and Surat.
Police officials and state government representatives have repeatedly used these figures to defend Kolkata’s law-and-order situation against criticism from political opponents.
Violent crimes remain relatively low in Kolkata
The NCRB report for 2024 suggested that Kolkata continued to fare relatively better than several other metro cities in controlling violent crimes.
The city reported 12 rape cases in 2024, compared with 10 cases in 2023. There was one reported case of attempt to rape during the year.
In comparison, Delhi recorded 10,568 rape cases, while Mumbai reported 411 such cases during the same period.
Kolkata also reported 29 cases of rioting in 2024. The figure remained lower than Mumbai’s 153 cases, Bengaluru’s 58, Kozhikode’s 68 and Nagpur’s 60.
Previous NCRB reports had also indicated relatively lower violent crime numbers in Kolkata. In 2023, the city recorded 43 murders compared with 34 in 2022. However, the murder figures remained lower than those reported in 2021 and 2020, when the city recorded 45 and 53 murders respectively.
The city also recorded a decline in crimes against women in 2023. NCRB data showed 1,746 cases were registered that year, compared with 1,890 in 2022 and 1,783 in 2021. Kolkata’s rate of crimes against women stood at 25.7 per lakh population, among the lowest in the country.
Kolkata Police credit technology and surveillance
Senior police officers attributed Kolkata’s continued ranking to extensive use of technology and improvements in policing strategies over the years.
Officials said upgrades in CCTV surveillance, data-based crime monitoring systems, stronger traffic and night policing, and faster coordination between police stations have contributed significantly to crime prevention and detection.
Police officials also highlighted the role of citizen cooperation and awareness campaigns in maintaining law and order. According to officers, regular monitoring of vulnerable zones and deployment of additional patrol teams in high-footfall areas helped reduce incidents of violent crime and street offences.
Investigators also pointed to increased digitisation within the police system, including improved data analysis and crime tracking tools, which enabled quicker identification of repeat offenders and faster response to complaints.
The state government has also repeatedly emphasised its “zero tolerance” approach towards crime. Senior ministers have cited the NCRB figures as evidence that Kolkata remains one of the safest metropolitan regions in the country despite criticism from opposition parties over isolated incidents.
Kolkata remains safest metro, but public concerns persist
Kolkata’s continued dominance in the NCRB rankings once again underlines the gap between statistical indicators and public perception of safety. While the city has retained its position as India’s safest metro for five consecutive years based on cognisable offence rates, the events surrounding the 2024 RG Kar incident also exposed deep public anxieties over women’s safety, institutional accountability and policing standards.
For the Kolkata Police and the state administration, the latest report serves as both an endorsement and a challenge — an endorsement of the city’s long-term decline in crime rates and policing infrastructure, and a challenge to address growing public demands for safer institutions and stronger accountability mechanisms.
As debates around safety, crime reporting and public trust continue, Kolkata’s latest NCRB ranking presents a complex reality: a city that remains statistically safer than its metropolitan counterparts while simultaneously confronting intense scrutiny over some of its most disturbing crimes in recent memory.