Image for representational purposes only.
The Trinamool Congress leadership on Saturday (October 4, 2025) highlighted the recently released report by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) to emphasise that Kolkata has registered one of the lowest crime among major metropolises in the country.
Several Ministers of the West Bengal ruling party highlighted the rate of crime in Kolkata and lauded the leadership of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee. As per Crime in India, 2023 published in the last week of September 2025 Kolkata has registered 83.9 cognizable offences per one lakh population. Rate of crime is calculated in terms of crime recorded per lakh of population.
“With only 83.9 cognizable offences per one lakh population, Kolkata records the lowest crime rate among 19 major Indian cities with populations exceeding 20 lakh. For the fourth consecutive year, Kolkata has earned this distinction, a testament to the visionary leadership of Hon’ble CM @mamataofficial…” the Trinamool Congress quoted Minister Chandrima Bhattacharya as saying. Minister for women and Child Development Sashi Panja also took to social media and said that Kolkata has been recorded safest city for women for the fourth time in a row.
“Kolkata reaffirms its position for the fourth time as India’s safest city, a reflection of Hon’ble Chief Minister @mamataofficial’s vision and her zero tolerance approach to crime,” Trinamool posted on social media.
The BJP leadership in the State, however, disputed the claims of Kolkata being the safest city. BJP spokesperson Keya Ghosh said that the NCRB does not generate its own data and publishes reports on the basis of what is sent by the State government. Ms. Ghosh claimed that the data provided by the West Bengal to the NCRB is manipulated to present a rosy picture. The BJP leader also pointed out that the same NCRB report has highlighted that West Bengal recorded highest incidents of acid attack in 2023. The State recorded 57 of the 207 incidents of acid attacks across the country.
Only a year ago protests over the rape and murder of an on duty doctor at R.G. Kar Medical College and Hospital had rocked Kolkata for weeks at a stretch. Over the past several years the Trinamool Congress leadership had highlighted the low rate of crime in Kolkata reflected in the NCRB report as a major success of the law and order situation under its regime.
Experts point out the disparity in what is reflected in the NCRB report and the situation on ground while referring to the rampant political violence in the State. During the panchayat polls in West Bengal in 2023, the State had recorded widespread political violence and about 50 deaths, whereas the NCRB report for the same year recorded only one political murder in West Bengal in 2023.
On the day when the State’s ruling party highlighted that Kolkata was safest city, there were reports of three violent deaths, one from Baranagar in the northern fringes of the city and two from Murshidabad district. While miscreants killed a jewellery shop owner in Baranagar, the deaths in Murshidabad were killed in crude bomb explosions.
Published – October 05, 2025 04:52 am IST
