HomeNCRB 2020 reports 28% jump in crime but Delhi reports a dip; key highlights

NCRB 2020 reports 28% jump in crime but Delhi reports a dip; key highlights

A total of 50,035 cases were registered under cybercrime in 2020, up 11.8 percent from 44,735 cases in 2019. There was a 12 percent decrease in cases registered under economic offences.

By CNBCTV18.com September 15, 2021, 6:03:24 PM IST (Published)

Crime cases in the country rose 28 percent to 66,01,285 in 2020 from 51,56,158 cases, according to data released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) on September 14. Overall crimes in Delhi dipped by 16 percent in 2020 compared to 2019, when the capital recorded nearly 20 percent rise in crime against 2018.

The maximum increase was seen in cases registered under ‘Disobedience to Order Duly Promulgated by Public Servant’ and ‘Other IPC Crimes.’ Most cases were to do with violation of COVID-19 norms. The country was under strict lockdown for several months in 2020 to contain the spread of COVID-19.

In 19 metropolitan cities, a total of 9,24,016 cognisable crimes were registered in 2020, up 7.6 percent from 8,59,117 cases in 2019.  Of these, 6,68,061 were registered under the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and 2,55,955 under Special & Local Laws (SLL) crimes.

Majority of cases registered under the Indian Penal Code were for theft, accounting for 33 percent (2,20,772 out of 6,68,061 IPC cases)

Crime against women

West Bengal and Odisha reported the highest increase in crime against women in 2020 when the overall crimes against women in the country fell by 8.3 percent, NCRB data revealed.

In West Bengal, 36,439 crimes against women were registered in 2020 compared to 29,859 in 2019 and 30,394 in 2018. Similarly, Odisha recorded 25,489 crime cases against women in 2020 relative to 23,183 in 2019 and 20,274 in 2018, the report released on September 14 said.

Uttar Pradesh witnessed a sharp decline of 17 percent, with 49,385 cases being registered in 2020 against 59,853 in 2019.

Also read: National Crime Records: One woman raped every 15 minutes in India 

Across the country, crime against women declined 8.3 percent from 4,05,326 in 2019 to 3,71,503 in 2020.

In 19 metropolitan cities, with more than two million population, crime against women had dropped from 44,783 in 2019 to 35,331 in 2020. Mumbai recorded 4,583 cases in 2020 against 6,519 in 2019, while Delhi saw crime against women dip from 12,902 cases in 2019 to 9,782 in 2020. Kolkata saw a 35.7 percent increase in crime cases against women at 2,001 in 2020, up from 1,474 in 2019.

“Majority of cases under crime against women under IPC were registered under ‘Cruelty by Husband or His Relatives’ (30 percent) followed by ‘Assault on Women with Intent to Outrage her Modesty’ (23 percent), ‘Kidnapping & Abduction of Women’ (16.8 percent) and ‘Rape’ (7.5 percent). The crime rate registered per lakh women population is 56.5 in 2020 in comparison with 62.3 in 2019,” the report said.

Economic offences

India witnessed a 12 percent decrease in cases registered under economic offences at 1,45,754 in 2020 against 1,65,693 cases in 2019. The maximum number of cases were registered under forgery, cheating and fraud at 1,27,724, followed by criminal breach of trust (17,358 cases) and counterfeiting (672 cases) during 2020.

Cyber crimes

A total of 50,035 cases were registered under cybercrime in 2020, up 11.8 percent from 44,735 cases in 2019. “Crime rate under this category increased from 3.3 (percent) in 2019 to 3.7 (percent) in 2020. During 2020, 60.2 percent of cyber-crime cases registered were for the motive of fraud (30,142 out of 50,035 cases), followed by sexual exploitation with 6.6 percent (3,293 cases) and extortion with 4.9 percent (2,440 cases),” the report revealed.