Law and order: Pro-active policing helped reduce grave offences in rural areas of Madurai in 2025

A slew of pro-active steps taken by Madurai District Police have helped to reduce the number of grave offences during 2025 when compared to the previous year. While the rural parts of Madurai had reported 168 grave crime cases, including murder, attempt to murder, dacoity, robbery and burglaries in 2024, the number had dipped to 115 in 2025.

“The number of murders, 53, reported in 2025 is the lowest in the district in the last five years,” said Madurai Superintendent of Police B. K. Arvind.

And most of the murders were due to family quarrel, drunken brawl and sudden provocation.

The SP attributed the reduction in number of murders for concerted efforts of the policemen in the rural areas. “Increased and visible police presence has helped to avert untoward incidents in the district,” he said.

Besides, routine policing, the police had identified crime prone areas and deployed armed two-wheeler patrols in select areas under Alanganallur, Silaiman, Melur, Austinpatti, Perungudi and Melur where the presence of rowdy elements was high.

“This patrol team had a dedicated duty of keeping a watch on anti-social elements. They used to closely monitor the presence and movement of such persons every day,” Mr. Arvind said.

A thorough follow up on petitions received at police stations from the District Police Office helped the police officers to show keen interest in conducting enquiry into the petitions.

“We found that a patient hearing and explaining to the petitioners about the limited role of police in certain civil disputes almost satsified the petitioners. This reduced the tension in the villages,” the SP added.

Four-wheeler patrols

In order to check property crimes like robbery and burglary, the police brought the highways bordering Madurai City Police jurisdiction under four-wheeler patrol.

The movement of patrol vehicles were effective in checking unnecessary movement of anti-social elements in the highways along Vadipatti, Melur, Natham highway, and Nagamalai Pudukottai.

Consequently, the number of robbery cases saw a sharp fall from 64 in 2024 to 38 in 2025.

Similarly, the drive of the police towards installation of CCTVs in important places also acted as a deterrent. “Those cameras also helped to crack crime cases on few occasions,” the SP said.