State sees fall in heinous crimes, rise in convictions: CM

Bhubaneswar: CM Mohan Charan Majhi on Wednesday said the law and order situation in the state has improved, with a fall in heinous crimes — including those against women — and a rise in conviction rates.

Replying to the budget discussion of the home department, Majhi said communal harmony is maintained, while timely intelligence and proactive police action have prevented major law-and-order situations.

“Continuous aggressive operations have enabled the Odisha police to achieve unprecedented success against CPI (Maoist). Police have eliminated 27 Maoists, including two central committee members, while 77, including three state committee members, surrendered,” he said.

On crimes against women, Majhi said in the 18 months since the govt came to power — from July 1, 2024, to Dec 31, 2025, — 48,789 cases of crimes against women were registered, the same as in the previous 18 months (Jan 1, 2023, to June 30, 2024).

“During the 18-month period under review, rape cases fell by 3.5%, misconduct cases by 2.2%, public disrobing incidents by 26.8%, acid attacks by 73.3%, dowry-related murders by 26.1%, dowry harassment by 8.3% and non-dowry harassment by 1.6%. Similarly, murder cases decreased by 7.4%, dacoity by 12.8%, robbery by 34.4% and riots by 25.7%,” he said.

Majhi added the conviction rate for violence against women, which was 9.2% in 2022, dropped to 6.7% in 2023, making it the lowest in the country at the time. He said in the first six months of 2025, the conviction rate rose to 41%, and by June it increased to 62%, which he claimed to be among the highest in the country.

The chief minister placed an estimated budget of Rs 10,786.69 crore for the home department.