UP tops states in custodial deaths second year in a row, nine-fold jump in encounter deaths in Kashmir: Centre

Uttar Pradesh cuts a sorry figure when it comes to the number of custodial deaths reported in a year, topping the national charts twice in a row, as per the data furnished by the central government on the floor of the Lok Sabha on Tuesday. The state reported 501 custodial deaths between April 2021 and March 2022, bettering its own previous record of 451 custodial deaths reported in the year 2020-21.

West Bengal stood at a distant second reporting 257 custodial deaths during the year, followed by Madhya Pradesh with 201 custodial deaths. Other states where higher custodial deaths were reported are from Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Punjab.

The custodial deaths reported in Haryana increased twofold, from 49 in 2020-21 to 109 in 2021-22. The same trend was noticed in Punjab which had reported 72 custodial deaths in 2020-2021, as against 153 reported in 2021-22. The number of custodial deaths in Odisha saw a significant drop from 93 reported in 2020-21 to only 67 reported in 2021-22. Union Territories of Ladakh, Daman and Diu, Lakshadweep and Dadra and Nagar Haveli reported zero custodial deaths as per the recently released government data.

The country has also witnessed a significant rise in the custodial deaths across 37 states and Union Territories as compared to the last year’s records. While 2,544 custodial deaths were reported in 2021-22, 1,940 cases of custodial deaths were reported in 2020-21.

Deaths in police encounters

When it comes to police encounters, Jammu and Kashmir reported the highest number of deaths in the country between April 2021 and March 2022. The UT, which has witnessed several incidents of heightened militant activity of late, has accounted for 45 of the total 151 deaths reported from police encounters between April 2021 and March 2022. It had reported five such deaths in the previous year. The death toll from the encounters increased nine times in Kashmir as compared to the same period from the previous year. The UT had reported five cases from April 2020 to March 2021.

After Kashmir, Chhattisgarh takes the second spot with 30 deaths reported in police encounters. The number of deaths arising out of police encounters have also seen a significant rise in the country as the number rose from 82 in 2020-21 to 151 in 2021-22.