J&K reports 24 pc rise in crimes in 2021, highest 289 UAPA cases: NCRB Report

Jammu: The overall crime graph in Jammu and Kashmir increased by 24.6 per cent in 2021 as compared to the previous year, while the cases of violent crimes declined marginally, the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) said in its latest report. According to the report, Jammu and Kashmir registered 289 cases under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, two under the Official Secrets Act and 300 under offences against state-related acts last year. However, the report said the violent crime incidents recorded a marginal decline with 3,100 such incidents reported in 2019 against 3,072 in 2021. The year 2020 recorded a total of 2,821 such cases and the charge sheeting rate was 67.2 per cent during this period.

As against 25,408 cognizable crimes comprising 22,404 Indian Penal Code (IPC) crimes and 3,004 Special and Local Laws (SLL) crimes in 2019, the total figure of criminal cases jumped to 31,675 in 2021 which includes 27,447 IPC crimes and 4,228 SLL crimes, the report said.

The report said the crime rate registration per lakh population stands at 235.7 from 2019 to 2021, while the overall charge sheeting rate touched 81.4 per cent.

The registration of cases under the IPC was 22,404 in 2019, 25,233 in 2020, 27,447 in 2021 and that under the SLL was 3,004 in 2019, 3,678 in 2020 and 4,228 in 2021. The report said there were 136 cases of murder in 2021 against 149 in the previous year. The Union Territory recorded 119 murder cases in 2019.

Of the 136 people murdered in Jammu and Kashmir in 2021, 30 lost their lives due to extremism or insurgency, two to political reasons, one to honour killing, 10 to love affairs and three to an illicit relationship. The report said 79.9 per cent of the murder culprits were charge-sheeted. It said four incidents of infanticide, three of foeticide and 16 dowry deaths were also reported from J&K in 2021.

The 3,072 violent crimes comprised 315 cases of rape, 1,041 cases related to abduction, 751 cases of rioting and 131 cases of arson. The report noted that the abduction cases crossed the three-digit mark in 2021 as the previous two years reported 961 such cases in 2019 and 868 in 2020. The charge sheeting rate remained at a low of 33.6 per cent.
The majority of the abducted persons are women, many of whom were kidnapped to force them into marriage.

The report said the number of unrecovered abducted persons by the end of 2021 was 1,882 including 957 women who were abducted during the year and 811 other women who were kidnapped before 2021 but could not be traced during the year. Jammu And Kashmir also registered 1,681 cases under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.