4,484 People Died In Police Custody Since 2020, 233 Killed In Encounters: Govt

A staggering 4,484 deaths were reported in police custody while 233 people were killed in encounters in the last two years, the home ministry told the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

Providing statewise data on India’s documented custodial violence, Union minister of state for home Nityanand Rai said, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Madhya Pradesh are the top three states where the maximum number of custodial deaths were registered, while Chhattisgarh and Jammu & Kashmir had the highest numbers in encounters.

Uttar Pradesh reported a total of 952 cases (451 in 2020 and 501 in 2021) in the past two years, and Bengal registered 442 (185 in 2020 and 257 in 2021) during this period.

With 396 cases, Bihar reported the third highest custodial deaths in two years (159 in 2020 and 237 in 2021), Rai said in a written response to questions by Indian Union Muslim League MP Abdussamad Samadani.

Overall, 1,940 cases of custodial deaths were registered in 2020 and 2,544 in 2021, he added.

Down south, Tamil Nadu reported 63 cases in 2020, the figure rose to 109 the following year.

The northeastern reported lesser custodial deaths in the past two years. Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura reported less than 10 cases during this period. Goa and Karnataka in the south did not report more than 10 cases in the two years.

The Muslim-majority Lakshadweep and other union territories Ladakh, Daman and Diu and Dadar and Nagar Haveli reported zero cases.

Rai attributed all the above figures to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).

On the question of gross violation of human rights, the ministry replied that “police” and “public order” are state subjects as per the Seventh Schedule to the Constitution of India. “It is primarily the responsibility of the state government concerned to ensure protection of the human rights of citizens,” it said.

The ministry said when complaints of alleged human rights violations are received by the NHRC, action is taken by the commission as per the provisions laid down under the Protection of Human Rights Act, 1993.

“Workshops/seminars are also organised by the NHRC from time to time to sensitise public servants for better understanding of human rights and, in particular, the protection of the rights of persons in custody,” the reply stated.

Reacting sharply to the government’s figures on custodial deaths in Uttar Pradesh specifically, Samajwadi Party (SP) national secretary and state spokesperson Rajendra Chaudhary said: “This is what our national president Akhilesh Yadav has been saying for the past five years… in custodial deaths, the state is number one. We have been saying that it’s total jungle raj under the BJP-led government here. Innocent people are being murdered in police custody.”