On Wednesday, the home of Netra Prasad Guragain in Budanilakantha was robbed in broad daylight. A burglar managed to get away with over Rs 200,000 worth of gold when no one was in the house, according to police.

Investigations are underway, said police, but as this is festival season, such crimes tend to rise significantly.

Despite increased security, Nepal Police data reveals that crime rates during the month of Asoj (September-October) have risen, compared to the same period last year. A total of 773 cases were registered this year while only 568 were recorded last Dashain.

“We have deployed 25 percent more personnel than at other times to provide security throughout the festive time,” Senior Superintendent Uttam Raj Subedi, chief of the Metropolitan Police Range Kathmandu, told the Post. “Our offices have been providing 24-hour service throughout the festive season.”

Security personnel have been deployed on foot, on bicycles, motorcycles and vehicles for seal and search, cordon and search, picketing, ambushing and vigilance, and cross-checking operations, said police.

“People now have become aware due to which they have started reporting crimes like cyberbullying, banking offences and other social crimes, which wouldn’t be reported in the past,” said Deputy Superintendent Hobindra Bogati, spokesperson for the Kathmandu Metropolitan Police Range. “However heinous crimes like murder, rape and trafficking have not been reported much this Dashain.”

Despite data showing an overall rise in crime, cases related to theft have decreased 22 percent. Altogether 80 cases related to theft were registered last Dashain while there have been only 62 cases this year.

“Cases related to robbery have declined this year due to new initiatives by the police. Most burglary cases used to occur during Dashain when people would leave their homes empty while going back to their districts. But this year, authorities have requested that locals inform the nearest police station if they are leaving their homes alone so that police can increase security in the area,” said Senior Superintendent Kiran Bajracharya, spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police Office.

The bump in the number of crimes registered appears to have come from cases related to social crimes, with a total of 260 cases filed during the Ashoj month in the valley. The number of cases was only 144 last year.

Social crimes, domestic violence and burglary are the biggest problems in the cities during festive time, said Bajracharya.

“Murder, attempted murder, fraud, human trafficking, rape, attempted rape, kidnapping, drug smuggling, robbery, dealing in small arms, theft, cybercrime and social crimes remain the biggest challenges to law and order and it is these cases that have been filed,” said Bajracharya.

Security officials conceded that the crime rate had yet to subside and attributed it to unemployment and financial temptation. Crime rates are higher in big cities than in small ones and rural areas as the chances of being recognised and arrested in a large mobile population are lower, according to police.