Journal of Global Resources

Volume 3

July 2016
Page 52-58
ISSN: 2395-3160 (Print), 2455-2445 (Online)

6
NON-COGNIZABLE CRIMES AND THEIR CHANGING SPATIAL PATTERN IN DISTRICTMEERUT OF UTTAR PRADESH
S. C. Bansal1 and Priyanka Gautam2
Associate Professor and Head (Retd.)
Dept. of Geography, J.V. Jain College, Saharanpur, India
1

2

Research Scholar, J.V. Jain College, Saharanpur, India

Abstract: Crime is a complex and culturally a relative concept. It is an act of humanbehaviour, which is punishable by law. Such behaviour is not acceptable to the standard ofsociety. Crime is that phenomenon of human conduct which is not in conformity of customs,
conventions and usage of the society at any given time Geography is concerned to identity thecrime and its occurrence. It is revealed that if a factor provides the opportunity to commit thecrime in an area, it may be possible on other hand, that it may help in the opportunity to
reduce the crime in the area. For example, the introduction of canal may increase theprobability of crime in its nearby areas, but at the same time, the provision of canal water may
reduce the unemployment, and thus may engage the rural persons in agricultural activities.
Their economic enhancement will prohibit them to involve themselves in any anti-social
activity. The analysis of social, physical and economic factors may be helpful in thedetermination of some clues about the relationship between the crime and its type. Geography
plays a fundamental role in ever-increasing crime against life and property.
Key words: Crime, Cognizable-Unorganized Crimes, Non-Cognizable-Organized Crimes.
Introduction
The growth after independence has been stupendous. The steady natural growth of populationin rural and urban areas both, has resulted into the shortage of housing, accommodation,
over-crowded localities, slums, resettlement and unauthorized colonies, increasing gap
between rich and poor, heavy congestion in old settled areas, heavy uncontrolled traffic onroads, pollution of environment. All these problems have become a matter of great concern as
the crimes of various natures have increased in Meerut city and in its district, with theenormous increase in their population. This district is the nerve centre for trade, commercial,industrial cultural, political, religions, defense and administrative activities. How, all thesefactors influence the criminal activities and create problem for Police Administration. It is an
important aspect which needs exploration and investigation in addition to high increase inpopulation, over-crowded slums, and localities witness group conflicts, sex-crimes, violence,
kidnapping and murders. Floating population and frequent visitors also add full fire in theunlawful activities. It all needs to analyse the occurrence of crimes in the area with their types.
Methodology
The writ observation and analysis in this study is Police Station. There are 28 police stations in
the district. Among these 14 are situated in the surroundings of Meerut city and 14 (including52

one Mahila Police thana) are situated in Meerut city. The data have been collected from allthese police thanas for the year, 2001, 2004, 2007 and 2010. This data has been categorized
into cognizable and non-cognizable crimes. The study has been carried out with the help ofhistorical, statistical and empirical methodology. The temporal analysis of crime types has
been visualized by the use of both qualitative and quantitative methods. The quantitative
methods are used to prepare the choropleth maps, which help in the analysis of various
crimes.
Meerut District lies between 28o40’N and 29o18’ N latitudes and 77o5’E and 78o7’E
longitudes. It is situated in the central part of upper Ganga-Yamuna Doab. It is bounded by
district Muzaffarnagar in north, by district Ghaziabad in south, by district Baghpat in west. On
its east, River Ganga forms its natural boundary, which separates it from Bijnor and J.P. Nagar(Amroha) districts. River Hindan separates it from District Baghpat on its west. The total areaof the district is 2597 sq. km. It has twelve Development Blocks and fourteen rural Police
thanas. Meerut city is its district headquarters. In 2011, the population of the district wasrecorded 34,43,689 with a density of 1346 persons per sq. km. Meerut city is a metropolitan
city with 14,24,908 population and has a road and rail distance of 70 km. from Delhi, 45 km.
from Ghaziabad. Meerut city is divided into 13 police thanas, with one Mahila police thana.
Types of Crimes
A crime is an act or omission, sinful or non-sinful, which a society or state has thought fit topunish under its laws for the time being in force. Crime is a curse to mankind. It is an offence
against the public. It is a violation of moral idea, a custom or a law. A criminal act is an act
forbidden by society. It draws human life to deadline darkening this beautiful and enlightened
world of Almighty. The development taking place in the field of science, technology, industry
and communication etc, during the twentieth century has brought many changes in the socialand economic conditions of Meerut District. Meerut has witnessed vast activity in the field ofindustrialization and urbanisation for the economic upbringing of the district. But along with thedevelopment, these new dimensions have created manifold social and economic problems
resulting in the emergence of a variety of new socio-economic crimes.
Crime is the illegal activity such as theft, robbery, murder, kidnapping, riots etc.
committed in lieu of satisfying oneself with luxuries of life. These crimes are common in thelower strata or in the lower class category, which is striving for the sustenance of life. Thus, tosatisfy themselves and their family, they are compelled to such deadly activities which corrupt
the environment, and result in ranking. Meerut has the second position in crimes after district
Muzaffarnagar in the western Uttar Pradesh. Crime is also exactly proportional to the
population. The crimes in the city and district are increasing. In comparison to the population,
the natural endowments are limited and thus are not distributed evenly in all the strata orclasses. With the increase in population in Meerut, the per capita income is declined and there
is an alarming increase in the demand of goods. Therefore, to fulfill one’s wants and needs,
people are diverted to commit such activities which are known as crimes. It is necessary here
to be acquainted with the type of crimes. There are mainly two categories: Cognizable andnon-cognizable. The definition of cognizable crime, its causes and modus operandi adopted by
the criminals, who enable the police to lodge First Information Report (FIR) in proper section,
while causes and modus operandi help in tracing the offenders. These crimes include dacoity,
robbery, house breaking, thefts, burglary, pick-pocketing, snatching, cheating, immoral traffic,

53

molestation murder, murder dowry, encounter, kidnapping, hurt, rape, riot etc.
The present society in a large number suffers from those crimes which are committed
in an organized manner. The aim of these crimes is to gather fabulous riches and thus live inluxury. Here, the non-cognizable crimes are rather such organized crimes, which affect thesociety in total. These crimes, if are reported, the Police Officer cannot make the investigation
without the order of the Magistrate. These are such offences, for which police officer can arrest
the suspect with the warrant order. In these cases, the imprisonment is simply from one year
to seven years depending upon the nature of crime. Such crimes include false claiming ofproperty, unauthorized possession of land; a public servant engaged inbribery, false
statement, disobeying, the rules and regulations, furnishing false information are, threatening
any person.
An act of swindling is also a crime. These days, the method of cheating has become
quite popular. Swindling means any fraudulent method by which a person is made to part withhis money or valuables. Mischief, assault on a person by harmful weapons, causing
miscarriage, intercourse by a man with a woman without her will, forgery, false preparation of
accounts in a public enterprise, marriage again in the presence of his present wife, adulterous,
criminal conspiracy, real estate and liquor manufacture in a illegal manner, gambling, receiving
stolen goods from the person in possession, political corruptions, smuggling. There are also
such crimes which include misrepresentation in advertising, infringement of trademarks,
copyright, patents, unfair labour practices, financial frauds and violation of trusts, tax-evasion,
health law violations, malicious mischief, disorderly conduct, indecency, bribery, burglary andburglar tools, fraud, election frauds, conspiracy, extortion, larceny, illegal possession of firearms, issue of illegal certificates etc.
All these above mentioned crimes may also be designated white-collar crimes. Today
crime is committed in practically by every class of society. That, practically every individual has
or is committing some form of anti-social activity. The district Meerut has reported thecommencement of non-cognizable crimes less than the number of cognizable crimes. The
main non-cognizable crimes are commenced here being a thug, causing miscarriage,
occupation of other’s land, disobey of public servant, bribery, to prevent the person fromservicing the government, public or private establishments, not obey the rules and regulations,false claim of the property, making the atmosphere un-peaceful, sale of theft goods, making an
intolerable sound, buying or disposing of any person, dishonest misappropriation, cheating,mischief, forgery, using a false property, making use of any such false marks, counterfeiting
currency notes or banks, accusation of women by force, or unlawfully, marriage again in thepresence of present wife. The distribution of these crimes is shown based on the dataregistered in various police thanas of the district in the years of 2001, 2004, 2007 and 2010
and on this the annual average number of these crimes has been obtained to discuss their
spatial set-up, and to correlate it with the present circumstances in which these are caused in
the area concerned.
Distribution of Non-Cognizable Crimes
Police thanas of Meerut City- These crimes have shown very high registration in number forthe year 2004. After this year, there is a fall in their number. Their distribution among police
thanas has a great variation. It is also to be noted that Mahila thana has registered 66 cases in54

2004 and 102 in 2010, indicating an effective increase in their number. It is apparent that
there is a very high concentration of non-cognizable crimes in high and very high crime
categories especially in the year of 2004. Otherwise, the category of medium crimes has
included highest number of police thanas in the remaining years, as mentioned here.

#
i
ii
iii
iv

Table 1 Distribution of non-cognizable crimes among city police thanas.
Year 2001
Year 2004
No. ofCategory
No. ofTotal% of
No. ofTotal% ofcrimesthanas crimes
total
thanas crimes
total
Low
< 20
2
26
5.46
Medium
21-40
6
214
44.96
1
28
2.80
High
41-60
4
171
35.92
3
166
16.62
V. High
61 >
1
65
13.66
9
805
80.58
Total
13
476
100.0013
999
100.00#Category

i
ii
iii
iv

Low
MediumHigh
V. HighTotal

No. ofcrimes
< 20
21-40
41-60
61 >

No. ofthanas1
8
413Year 2007
Total
% of
crimes
total
06
1.34
250
55.80
192
42.86
448
100.00No. ofthanas156113Year 2010
Total
% of
crimes
total
14
2.50
163
29.11
310
55.36
73
13.04
560
100.00(i)

Distributional Pattern in 2001- Police thanas extended on the fringe areas of the city
have more crime in number than the police thanas, situated in the heart of Meerut city.
Kotwali (20) and Railway Road (16), have occupied the low category. These areas aredecorated either with commercial activities or have medium density of residential
houses. The south and south-west parts of the city have noted the crime of medium
category, with the inclusion of Delhi Gate (35), Lisari Gate (38), Partapur (38),Transport Nagar (37), Brahmpuri (26) and Medical College (40). They have theirextension along Garh Road, Baghpat Road and Delhi Road. Except Nauchandi (41),the remaining police thanas of high category- Kankar Khera (43), Lal Kurti (46) andSada Bazar (41) have occupied the northern areas of the city. Civil line police thanahas registered 65 crimes, being as the administrative and educational area of the city.

(ii)

Distributional Pattern in 2004- This year has registered highest number of noncognizable crimes in the city. Kotwali has registered 28 such crimes, the medium
number. The high category is formed by Railway Road (54), Lisari Gate (60), and Delhi
gate (52). All of the above thanas have occupied the central part of the city. Borderareas thanas have very high frequency of these crimes. These are known as Partapur(83), Transport Nagar (72), Brahmpuri (61), Sadar Bazar (90), Lal Kurti (76), Kankar
Khera (131), civil lines (129), Nauchandi (79) and Medical (84). Among them
Kankarkehra and Civil lines have very high incidence of the crimes.

(iii)

Distributional Pattern in 2007- This year has reported the less number of total noncognizable crimes in the city. This number is just half of the number of 2004, and also
this year very high category has not registered any police thana of the city. The low
category thana is one in number Railway Road (06). This is extended along Baghpat

55

Road. The medium category thanas, which are eight in number have occupied, most of
the central areas of the city. These are Kotwali (25), Delhi Gate (39), Lisari Gate (21),Transport Nagar (33), Lal Kurti (26), Nauchandi (39) and Medical (40). High incidenceof the crime is the result of thanas, having their border areas with the rural
surroundings. Partapur (60), Sadar Bazar (44), Kankar Khera (43) and Civil Lines (45).
These areas are either highly populated, where the new colonies have sprung up, or
have their extension along the outer areas.
(iv)

Distributional Pattern in 2010- This year has shown increasing trend. It hasregistered 112 more number as compared to 2007. The incidence of these crimes ismore in those police thanas, which have their jurisdiction on the outskirts of the city.
Railway Road thana has noted 14 crimes, whereas five thanas have occupied the
medium category. These are also extended on the south and west parts of the cityKotwali (34), Delhi gate (27), Partapur (40), Lal Kurti (25) and Medical (37). The highcategory of these crimes is composed by Lisari gate (60), Transport Nagar (53),
Brahmpuri (47), Sadar Bazar (53), civil lines (47) and Nauchandi (50). These areextended on the central, north-west and north-east areas of the city. They have thecommencement of 55.36 percent of total such crimes. Kankarkhera thana has reported
73 crimes, the highest number, because of its northern most location. Here, most of the
population belongs to medium and poor class persons.

(v)

Distributional Pattern (on the basis of annual average during 2001-2010) - Table
explains the overall distributional pattern of the crime in all thirteen thanas of the city.
The number of these crimes is registered 621 and is mainly commenced in thosethanas, which have their boundaries along the fringe villages of the city. Railway Road
has registered 20 crimes of this type. It has always been in the category of low numberof crimes. The medium category is incorporated by Brahmpuri (40), Kotwali (27), andDelhi gate (38). All of these are located in the heart of the city, and belong to mostcongested part of the city. The thanas of south part have reported high number ofthese crimes. They also occupy the west and east parts of the city. These are known
as Lisari Gate (45), Partapur (55) Transport Nagar (49), Medical (50), Sadar Bazar(57), Lal Kurti (43), and Nauchandi (52). The very high number of crime is observed in
Kankar Khera (73) and civil line (72).
Table 2 Distributional Pattern of non-cognizable crimes in Police thanas of the district.
Category
Low
MediumHigh
V. High
Total

Among Rural Police Thanas
No. ofNo. ofTotal
crimesthanas crimes
< 20
2
32
21-40
7
206
41-60
4
213
61 >
1
63
14
514

% of
total
6.23
40.08
41.44
12.25
100.0

Meerut City Police Thanas
No. ofNo. ofTotal% ofcrimesthanas crimes
total
< 20
1
20
3.22
21-40
3
105
16.91
41-60
7
351
56.52
61 >
2
145
23.35
13
621
100.00Distributional Pattern of Non-cognizable crimes among other thanas (Rural)
All these 14 police thanas have registered 514 non-cognizable crimes with an annual average.
These crimes are more prevalent in north-central part of the district. Daurala thana hasrecorded highest number of 63, whereas Bahsuma has the least number of 16 crimes. Both56

the north-east Police thanas have the low number of non-cognizable crimes. The medium
Police thanas are seven in number. These cover the south-east parts of the district. Sarurpur
thana is the only one, situated in central-west part. It has noted 33 such crimes. The number ofcrimes in other thanas of the category is Hastinapur (24), Kithore (33), Parikshitgarh (33),
Bhawanpur (22), Mundawali (27), and Kharkhauda (34). It is noted that these thanas have thedomination of burglary, cheating, swindling, and crimes against women. The high frequency ofthe crimes is recorded by four police thanas namely Sardhana (58), Jani Khurd (48), Mawana(53) and Incholi (54). Such nature of crime is mainly observed in canal irrigated areas.
(a) Distributional Pattern in 2001- Rural thanas of the district have reported 428 such casesin this year. The north part has high commencement as compared to south and east parts.
The central belt has registered crimes in low number. Here Bhawanpur (18), Mundawali(14), Kharkhauda (20), and Sarurpur (17) include 16.12 percent total of this crime of theyear. The medium category of the crime is occupied by seven police thanas. Among them
except Jani Khurd (39), all the remaining is extended on the eastern part of the district.
Other thanas of the category are Phalavda (21), and Kithore (37). These thanas include
48.13 percent of the total. The high frequency of this crime is registered by Sardhana (54),
Daurala (54) and Incholi (45). They cover most of the north-west part of the district, andinclude 34.75 percent of these crimes.
Table 3 Distributional Pattern of non-cognizable crimes among rural thanas 2001 and 2004
Category
Low
MediumHigh
V. HighTotal

No. ofcrimes
< 20
21-40
41-60
61 >

2001
No. ofthanas
4
7
3
14

Total
crimes
69
206
153
428

% of
total
16.12
48.13
34.75
100.00No. ofcrimes
< 20
21-40
41-60
61 >

2004
No. ofTotal
thanas crimes
1
18
2
53
5
261
6
488
14
820

% of
total
2.20
6.46
31.83
59.51
100.00(b) Distributional pattern in 2004- This year has reported the highest number of the crimeamong the years in consideration. It reveals that the western part of the district is very
familiar for these crimes than the eastern and south parts. Those areas which are very
prosperous in agricultural and fruits economy have registered high number of these cases.
Sardhana (109) and Daurala (107) thanas include 26.34% of total crime. Bahasuma thanahas registered only 18 crimes. Near to this thana, Phalavda (25) and Hastinapur (28)thanas have recorded 6.46 percent non-cognizable crimes of the year. It is revealed thatarea with low percentage of cultivated land has less frequency of the crime. The south andeast parts of the district have registered high commencement of the crime. Here Kithore(55), Parikshitgarh (57), Bhawanpur (47), Mundawali (43), and Kharkhauda (59) thanas areextended with 31.83 percent of the total crime. The very high category is composed by six
police thanas, with the inclusion of 59.51 percent crimes. These are known as Sardhana(109), Sarurpur (63), Jani Khurd (77), Mawana (62), Daurala (107) and Incholi (70). These
thanas are extended on the most fertile land. The division of the rural society in the farmers
and laboureres has boosted the criminal mentality among the people of the area.
(c) Distributional Pattern in 2007- This year has noted less number of non-cognizable
crimes, in comparison of 2004. Total commencement of the crime is 366 in number. Police

57thanas, located in the north-west and central parts of the district have noted more numberof these crimes. Mawana and Incholi thanas have reported 42 and 46 such crimes. Bothare located in the central- east part. Janikhurd thana also has 42 crimes, located in thesouth-west part. Six Police thanas committed these crimes on a medium scale. These are
known as Sardhana (37), Daurala (31), Mundawali (27), Parikshitgarh (31), Kithore (24),and Hastinapur (22). This category includes 46.99 percent of the total crimes. The low
category is composed by Sarurpur (20), Bahsuma (06), Phalavda (15), Bhawanpur (17),and Kharkhauda (16). Their location indicates that the north and south borders have low
number of such commencement.
Table 4 Distributional Pattern of non-cognizable crimes among rural thanas 2007 and 2010
Category
Low
MediumHigh
V. HighTotal

No. ofcrimes
< 20
21-40
41-60
61 >

2007
No. ofthanas
5
6
3
14

Total
crimes
64
172
130
366

% of
total
17.49
46.99
35.52
100.00No. ofcrimes
< 20
21-40
41-60
61 >

2010
No. ofTotal
thanas crimes
6
98
5
161
2
111
1
72
14
442

% of
total
22.17
36.43
25.11
16.29
100.00(d) Distributional pattern in 2010- This year has noted an increase in the number of crimes
in comparison of 2007. Their incidence has increased in Police thana of Mawana, which
has registered 72 such crimes, 16.29% of the total. The least number is registered byPhalavda (13) indicates that the eastern part has less number of crimes in comparison of
the western part. The low number is observed in six police thanas, namely Hastinapur (20),Bahsuma (14), Kithore (15), Parikshitgarh (20) and Bhawanpur (16). It is less committed inthose areas which are economically deprived and have low accessibility. The medium
incidence of the crime is registered by Sardhana (32), Sarurpur (31), Jani Khurd (35),
Mundawali (23) and Kharkhauda (40). This category includes highest percentage. The highnumber of crime is observed by Daurala (58) and Incholi (53) police thanas, both are
nearby located and occupying the north-central part of the district. As a whole, it isrevealed that these crimes are most popular in economically developed and highly
accessible areas. These areas are also highly crowded, and give an opportunity to thecriminal to leave the place of crime, after its commencement, to the nearby districts.
References
1. Bhatnagar, R. R. (1990) Crimes in India: Problems and Policy, New Delhi, Ashish
Publishing House, Delhi.
2. Darrow, C. (1990) Crime - its cause and treatment. Ist Indian Edition, New Delhi, Logo
Press.
3. Gautam Priyanka (2013) Crime and Police administration and its impact in Meerut
district: A Geographical analysis: Ph.D. unpublished thesis, C.C.S University, Meerut.
4. Peet, R. (1975) The Geography of Crime: A political critique: Professional Geographer,Vol. 27.

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