The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) has revealed that incidents of communal violence shot up last year as compared to 2019, even as the country was under lockdown for several months.
The ‘Crimes in India’ report states that a total of 71,107 cases of offences against public tranquillity were registered under various sections of the Indian Penal Code during 2020, out of which 51,606 cases of rioting accounted for 72.6 percent of total such cases. The cases of offences against public tranquillity have increased by 12.4 percent in 2020 over 2019 (3,262 cases).
Uttar Pradesh has registered the highest number of cases under offences against the State. The total number of cases under the category increased from 2,107 in 2019 to 2,217 in the year 2020. It is noteworthy that the rise in numbers under this category is attributable to the soaring number of Damage to Public Property Act cases registered in the state. It has 2,126 cases registered under the Act, which is almost 50 percent of all such cases registered across the country.
2020 also recorded 857 incidents of communal violence, as compared to 438 incidents in 2019. Of these, the National Capital recorded the maximum incidents of violence at 520, followed by Bihar that saw 117 cases, and Jharkhand and Haryana that saw 51 cases each. Several protests against the citizenship laws were followed by communal violence in northeast Delhi in the last week of February in 2020.
The NCRB data has also revealed a jump in caste-based violence, which has increased from 492 in 2019 to 736 in the year 2020. Bihar has recorded the highest number of such cases at 208, followed by Maharashtra (125), Uttar Pradesh (116), Karnataka (95) and Tamil Nadu (69).
2,188 cases of “agrarian riots” were reported last year. The farmers have been protesting at various border points on the way to Delhi since August last year against the three farm laws passed by the Centre. Interestingly, Punjab has recorded no incident of agrarian violence, and Haryana has lodged 34 such cases.
According to the data, under the category “rioting during andolan/morcha”, 1,905 cases have been registered, with Kerala recording 1,798 cases, almost accounting for 95 percent of all such cases in 2020. The year 2019 saw 1,442 cases, indicating almost a 30 percent jump in such incidents.
The annual report also has a separate category of “student rioting”, that lodged 233 violence incidents and 286 arrests. Haryana has topped the list with 67 cases, followed by Bihar at 42 cases, Telangana at 39 cases and Kerala at 37 cases.
Related:
95% pendency of trial of UAPA cases, 85% cases pending investigation: NCRB report
Crimes against women highest in Uttar Pradesh: NCRB 2020 report
76 deaths in police custody, 20 human rights violation cases registered against Police: NCRB report