DUSHANBE, January 10, Asia-Plus  -- In 2007, 12,115 crimes were registered in Tajikistan, which is 7.9 percent more than in the previous year, Colonel Haidar Mahmadiyev, chief of the Ministry of Interior (MoI), said in an interview with Asia-Plus.

According to him, property crimes accounted for 44.6 percent (5,402 cases) of a total number of crimes registered in the country last year. 

Compared to 2006 there was nearly 35 percent increase in the number of household thefts.  922 cases of household theft were reported in the country last year. 

In all, 3,731 cases of theft were reported in 2007.  Besides, 191 cases of robbery and 33 cases of extortion were reported in the country last year. 

The MoI official named socioeconomic problems, rising inflation, poverty and jobless as key factors contributing to increase in the number of property crimes in the country.  

Compared to 2006 there was an 1.5 percent reduction in the number of reported grave crimes.  Grave crimes accounted for 20.6 percent of the total number of crimes reported in the country in 2007.  1,751 grave crimes were registered in Tajikistan last year.   

Last year, 441 economic crimes were reported. 

The crime detection rate last year amounted to 85.4 percent.  In all, the law enforcement agencies solved 10,377 crimes, which 244 crimes more than in 2006.