Crime in India 2019: Volume-III

The total number of cases registered by the Government Railway Police in 2019 was 99,710 – as compared to 1,07,092 in the year 2018.

Almost half of the cases registered by the Government Railway Police were in the state of Maharashtra. It recorded 45,341 cases, accounting for 45.5 per cent of all cases registered that year.

There were a total of 409 cases of crimes against foreigners in 2019, with 517 victims. Over half (56.4 per cent) of them were from Asia, followed by 20.9 per cent from Europe. The year marked a 20.9 per cent decline from the previous year, which recorded 517 crimes against foreigners.

The year 2019 recorded 2,260 cases of human trafficking, a 0.8 per cent drop from the 2,278 cases of 2018. The maximum number of cases were reported in Maharashtra (282), while states like Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh recorded none.

As many as 6,571 victims of human trafficking were rescued from traffickers – 4,058 females and 2,513 males – in the year 2019. At the same time, 5,128 persons were arrested for being involved in such cases.

In 2019, the report notes, courts discharged 530 human trafficking cases and convicted 172. Only 782 trials for such cases were completed in the year 2019.

The number of persons reported to be missing in 2019 was 380,526, comprising of 132,089 males, 248,397 females and 40 transgender persons. This is a 9.5 per cent rise from the 347,524 persons reported to be missing in 2018. A total of 3,48,608 persons (1,25,558 males, 2,22,949 females and 101 transgender persons) were recovered or could be traced in the year 2019.

The year recorded a total of 85 deaths in ‘police custody/lockup’, including those in and not on remand. With 11 deaths, Tamil Nadu recorded the highest number of such deaths. The report states that 25 policemen were arrested in cases relating to deaths in police custody or in lockup in 2019.

The most common reason for deaths in police custody, as per the report, is stated to be “death due to illness/death in hospitals during treatment” – 36 out of the 85 reported deaths were due to this reason. Suicide, on the other hand, was stated as the cause of 33 deaths in custody or lockup.

As per the report, a total of 287,404 notes worth Rs. 253,909,130 were seized in the year 2019 as fake Indian currency notes. On the other hand, in 2018, 257,243 notes worth Rs. 179,536,992 were seized.

Quoting data from the Narcotics Control Bureau, the report states that 57,867 cases of drug seizures were registered in 2019, with 74,620 persons (including foreigners) arrested in relation to the cases.

The report states that, in 2019, a total of 5,213,404 persons were arrested under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Special and Local Laws (SLL). Under the 3,225,701 cases of IPC crimes in 2019, 31,12,639 persons were arrested. On the other hand, 2,100,765 persons were arrested under the 19,30,471 cases of SLL crimes registered in the country in 2019.

Focus and Factoids by Khushi Agrawal.