DUSHANBE, April 25, Asia-Plus — Over the first three months of the year, 3,275 crimes have been reported in Tajikistan, which 3.3 percent more than in the same period of 2006, Deputy Interior Minister, Sharif Nazarov, announced at a news conference in Dushanbe on April 24.
According to him, 690 grave crimes have been registered in the country over the report period.
Nazarov noted that the current crime trends among minors evoke serious concern. Compared to January-March 2006, there has been a 9.8 percent increase in the number of reported crimes committed by minors. “The number of crimes committed by minors has increased from 183 cases reported in the first quarter of 2006 to 201 cases in January-March this year,” the deputy minister said.
Over the report, 95 teenagers, including seven girls, have been arrested for committing crimes, Nazarov said, noting that 14 teenagers were detained for repeated commission of offences. “38 detained teenagers have been involved in group crimes,” he said.
Speaking to journalists, the deputy minister drew their attention to the fact that many of the arrested teenagers are homeless. “Existence of homeless children is a social problem and to tackle this problem the Ministry of Interior (MoI) cooperates with Commission for Minors’ Affairs under the Government, taking different preventing measures,” the MoI official said.
“Over the report period, we jointly with representatives from the Commission for Minors’ Affairs have carried out two operations, dubbed Tramp and Homeless, to reveal children having been left to their own devices.
