Uttar Pradesh tops in Custodial Deaths

• 28 Jul 2022

Why In New?

• On July 27, 2022, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai informed the Lok Sabha that Uttar Pradesh has the highest number of custodial deaths in all states and Union Territories in the last two years.

Key Points

• Uttar Pradesh recorded 451 deaths in police custody in 2020-21, while the number rose to 501 in 2021-22. There were 955 custodial deaths in Uttar Pradesh during 2020-22.
• The total number of custodial deaths in India has increased from 1,940 in 2020-21 to 2,544 in 2021-22, according to government data.
• Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai gave the data while presenting the data in response to a question by Indian Union Muslim League MP Abdussamad Samdani.
• West Bengal accounted for the highest number of custodial deaths after Uttar Pradesh. The state recorded 185 deaths in 2020-21 and 257 deaths in 2021-22.
• According to the data, a total of 396 deaths have been reported in police custody in Bihar, 364 in Madhya Pradesh and 340 in Maharashtra in the last two years.
• Jammu and Kashmir Police topped the list of cases registered in cases related to deaths in encounters with 45 cases in 2021-22. Second on the list is Chhattisgarh, with 30 deaths in police encounters followed by Uttar Pradesh with 27 people killed in encounters.
• A total of 151 and 82 cases related to deaths in police encounters have been registered in 2021-22 and 2020-21 across the country.