Fact-check: Mohsin Naqvi's claim of 30% crime reduction in Punjab found to be false
Heinous crimes actually increased in the province in 2023 compared to 2022
Updated Monday May 13 2024
Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi has repeatedly asserted that the crime rate had decreased by nearly 30% in Punjab. Naqvi was the interim chief minister of the province from January 2023 to February 2024.
The claim is false, as the number of registered cases of offenses in fact grew in Punjab in 2023, when Naqvi was heading the province.
Claim
On January 10, Mohsin Naqvi, who was then the caretaker chief minister of Punjab, held a press conference flanked by the inspector general of police in the province. Naqvi lauded the police and said: “Crime reduced by 30% [in Punjab] and I am hopeful that we will bring it down even further.”
Naqvi repeated the claim on February 5 in Gujranwala, while inaugurating a safe city project, and then again on April 26 in Islamabad, implying that this happened in the previous year when he was chief minister.
All three press conferences were covered by local media and are available on YouTube.
Fact
Naqvi's statement paints an inaccurate picture of the crime statistics in Punjab. While the number of registered cases of honour killings saw a decrease in 2023 compared to 2022, the majority of heinous crimes such as rape, gang rape, murder, and acid attacks actually increased in 2023.
In fact the total number of registered cases of all reported crimes went up by 46% from 2022.
Below is the official police data, provided to Geo Fact Check by the Punjab police, as well as data documented by the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP).
| Offense | Number of registered cases in 2022 | Number of registered cases in 2023 | Percentage increase or decrease |
| Rape | 3,656 | 8,565 | 134% |
| Gang rape | 311 | 774 | 149% |
| Murder | 4,596 | 4,847 | 5% |
| Honour killings | 183 | 120 | 34% decrease |
| Acid attack | 59 | 62 | 5% |
| Attempted murder | 7,826 | 8,829 | 12% |
| Kidnapping and abduction | 21,773 | 24,746 | 13% |
| Kidnapping for ransom | 62 | 123 | 98% |
| Dacoity | 1,520 | 1,708 | 12% |
| Robbery | 45,447 | 101,032 | 122% |
| Motor vehicle theft | 75,044 | 116,917 | 55% |
| Hurt | 16,744 | 18,611 | 11% |
| All reported crimes | 760,371 | 1,110,525 | 46% |
In its annual report, titled the State of Human Rights in 2023, the HRCP also notes that a “significant uptick in crime in 2023 [in Punjab] relative to 2022”, especially with an increase in the number of registered cases of rape and gang rape.
Separately, even in Lahore the number of rape cases increased from 488 in 2022 to 778 in 2023, while the number of cases of murder and gang rape reduced slightly from 502 in 2022 to 455 and gang rape from 33 in 2022 to 30 in 2023.
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