National Crime Records Bureau releases data for 2017: Here's all you need to know

The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) released its 2017 data for crime in India on October 21. The data, delayed by about a year, presents some interesting findings.

According to a report by The Indian Express, the data that was supposed to be published under the new sub-heads of mob lynching, murder by influential people, killing ordered by khap panchayats and murder committed for religious reasons. But, it isn't.

The report states that this exclusion has made the report only partial.

"It is surprising that this data has not been published. This data was ready and fully compiled and analysed. Only the top brass would know the reason why it has not been published," an official told the newspaper.

According to the report, the data under the new sub-heads was a part of a data revamp exercise undertaken by former NCRB director Ish Kumar. The idea behind collecting data on lynchings, according to the report, was to help the government formulate policies that would tackle this problem.

A new category of offences under the aegis of "Anti-National Elements", the IE report states, showed that the maximum number of offences were committed by Left Wing Extremist (LEW) operatives, insurgents in the Northeast and terrorists.

The data suggests that in 2017 itself, India registered over 50 lakh cases of cognisable offences, which, according to reports, is a 3.6 percent increase in the registration of cases as compared to 2016.

Uttar Pradesh has been listed as the most unsafe for women, with the state registering the maximum number of cases - over 56,000 - of crimes against women in 2017. This comes at a time when a debate rages regarding the law and order situation in the state.

Madhya Pradesh, meanwhile, has been ranked as the 'rape capital' of India, according to a report by the Mint. The report states that the state recorded the highest number of rape cases at 5,562 cases.

Delhi, the Mint report suggests, saw a decline in crimes against women for the third straight year, with over 13,000 First Information Reports (FIRs) being registered as opposed to over 15,000 in 2016 and over 17,000 in 2015.

NCRB has classified 'crimes against women' as 'murder, rape, dowry death, suicide abatement, acid attack, cruelty against women and kidnapping'.

The report states that at 27.9 percent, the majority of cases in crime against women were recorded under "cruelty by husband or his relatives" category.

A News18 report states that fraudulent transactions and sexual exploitation were the most reported cyber crimes in India in 2017.

While cyber frauds accounted for a total of 12,213 individual reports across all states and union territories in India, the second most individually reported cases of cyber crime came in the form of sexual exploitation. Here, too, Uttar Pradesh tops the list, with 4,971 of the total 21,796 reported cases coming from UP.

According to the report, in Assam, which has recorded higher number of cyber crimes than other states in the region, sexual exploitation and personal revenge were the prime reasons.

The NCRB report states that as compared to 2016, there has been a 30 percent rise in incidents of offences against the state. Sedition, waging war against country and damage to public property are among the offences included under this category.

Interestingly, the maximum number of such offences were recorded from Haryana while the minimum number of such cases were recorded from Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), according to the IE report.

Haryana, according to the report, registered 13 cases of sedition- second after Assam, which registered 19- while only one case of sedition was recorded in J&K. Get access to India's fastest growing financial subscriptions service Moneycontrol Pro for as little as Rs 599 for first year. Use the code "GETPRO". Moneycontrol Pro offers you all the information you need for wealth creation including actionable investment ideas, independent research and insights & analysis For more information, check out the Moneycontrol website or mobile app.