Haryana recorded 296 extortion cases during the first seven months of this year, an increase of about 17 per cent from 253 cases during the corresponding period last year, the state Assembly was informed on Thursday. Chief Minister Nayab Singh Saini acknowledged the increase while responding to a Calling Attention Motion on law and order moved by the opposition INLD. He attributed much of the rise to extortion attempts originating from abroad, where callers allegedly use digital applications and other technologies to conceal their identities and locations.
Saini, however, maintained that the broader law-and-order situation had improved substantially, citing a decade-long decline across several categories of serious crime.
Overseas callers pose challenge
The chief minister said the anonymous nature of calls originating outside India had made investigation and identification more complicated for enforcement agencies. Digital platforms and technologies that can mask the origin of communications have increasingly been used in such cases, he told the House. Despite the increase in reported extortion incidents, Saini said the state government remained committed to a “zero tolerance” policy towards crime and had given police operational freedom to take swift action within the law.
Government cites decade-long decline
Presenting comparative crime figures for the 2014-2025 period, Saini said murders had declined by 18.17 per cent, while dacoity cases fell by 34.30 per cent. Riots declined by 29.78 per cent and robberies by 33.75 per cent during the same period, he said. The chief minister highlighted the figures alongside Haryana’s population growth, saying the state’s population had increased by 15.25 per cent over the period even as these categories of violent crime declined.
Saini contrasts previous decade
Saini also compared the figures with trends between 2004 and 2014, claiming that the same categories had recorded substantial increases during that decade.
According to the data presented by him, murders had risen by 50.88 per cent during 2004-2014, dacoities by 230.76 per cent, riots by 178 per cent and robberies by 258.2 per cent.
The figures were cited by the chief minister in response to opposition concerns over the state’s law-and-order situation.
Credits coordinated policing
Saini said sustained and coordinated policing had helped Haryana contain serious and violent offences over the past decade.
He argued that the decline across major crime categories demonstrated the impact of the government’s approach, while acknowledging that technology-enabled crimes such as extortion involving overseas callers presented new challenges for law-enforcement agencies.