Muscat: Although theft cases are on the rise in Oman, the overall crime rate is dropping, according to Colonel Mohammed Bin Khalfan Al Dughaishi, Director at the Royal Oman Police's (ROP) Directorate of Crime Control Department.

"The number of crime complaints registered with the police decreased during the first half of this year as compared with the same period last year," the senior police officer said in a statement released by the ROP's Public Relations Department.

He said that the crime rate dropped by 11.6 per cent in the first six months of this year as 13, 788 complaints were registered with the police this year as compared to 15, 594 during the same period last year.

According to Colonel Al Dughaishi, the complaints about law breaking dropped by 12% due to the actions and preventive measures taken by the ROP.

"The police launched a major drive in some areas that were experiencing a steady rise in criminal complaints so as to contain and reduce the possibility of such acts," he revealed. The head of crime control department also reiterated that illegal immigrants were largely responsible in committing most of the criminal acts.

"We (ROP) with other competent authorities have raided the hideouts of such infiltrators and brought them to justice," he pointed out.

He warned those harbouring infiltrators and those violating residency laws. "These people forget the social, economic and security risks arising out of the acts of harbouring illegal residents."

Colonel Al Dughaishi added that some infiltrators have been indulging in various crimes, including trafficking in human beings and trafficking in drugs and psychotropic substances and also violation of the telecommunications law (sale of telephone calls in violation of the law), apart from the sale of alcoholic beverages in addition to thefts from homes and shops.

He also said that besides thefts at shops and homes, the thieves were now also targeting employees of the money exchange houses.

"The miscreants monitor these establishments during the day time and later accost their staff when they go to a commercial bank to deposit the cash."