NCRB’s Crime in India 2024 Report:
The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) released the ‘Crime in India – 2024’ report. While the data shows an overall 6% decline in cognisable crimes across the country, it highlights a stark 17% surge in cybercrimes, reflecting a rapid transition from traditional physical offences to sophisticated borderless digital crimes.
- The NCRB also released the Accidental Deaths & Suicides in India (ADSI) 2024 report, according to which 1,70,746 suicides were recorded in 2024.
- Deaths due to drug overdose saw a 50% increase in 2024 compared with 2023.
- The NCRB 2024 report recorded a decline in overall cognisable crimes, but this was partly due to legal changes under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, while crimes against children, senior citizens, and economic offences continued to rise.
- Cybercrime emerged as the biggest concern, increasing by 17% due to AI-enabled frauds, digital arrest scams, weak digital literacy, and organised cyber syndicates, highlighting the urgent need for stronger cyber governance and digital security reforms.
Key Findings of the NCRB 2024 Report:
- Total Cases: India recorded 58.85 lakh cognisable crimes in 2024, down from 62.41 lakh in 2023.
- The reported 6% dip is largely attributed to the implementation of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita, 2023.
- Under the BNS, simple ‘Hurt’ was made a non-cognisable offence. Consequently, cases registered under the ‘Hurt’ category saw a massive 30.58% decline (dropping from 6.36 lakh to 4.41 lakh cases), which artificially deflated the overall national crime numbers.
- The Crime rate, which is a measure of cases registered per lakh population, saw a dip from 448.3 in 2023 to 418.9 in 2024, the lowest since 2019.
- Trends in Crimes:
- Murder and Kidnapping: Murder cases witnessed a marginal decline of 2.4%, with ‘disputes’ remaining the leading motive. Kidnapping and abduction cases declined by a significant 15.4%.
- Property Offences: Traditional property offences like theft (down 9.8%) and robbery (down 13%) saw a noticeable decline, though burglary remained relatively stagnant.
- Crimes Against Vulnerable Sections:
- Children: Crime against children increased by 5.9% in 2024. Kidnapping and abduction accounted for the highest share, followed by POCSO-related offences, while the crime rate rose to 42.3 per lakh children population (39.9 in 2023).
- Women: Crimes against women declined by 1.5%, with 4.41 lakh cases reported in 2024 compared to 4.48 in 2023.
- However, the crime rate remains high at 64.6 per lakh female population (66.2 in 2023), with ‘Cruelty by husband or his relatives’ remaining the dominant offence.
- Marginalised Communities: Crimes against Scheduled Castes (SCs) decreased by 3.6%, while crimes against Scheduled Tribes (STs) showed a sharp decline of 23.1% over 2023.
- Senior Citizens: Crimes against senior citizens rose by 16.9% in 2024. Theft accounted for the highest share, followed by forgery, cheating and fraud (FCF), and murder.
- Juveniles in Conflict with Law: Cases registered against Juveniles in Conflict with Law increased by 11.2%.
- Human Trafficking and Missing Persons: Human trafficking cases declined slightly in 2024, though over 6,000 victims, including many children, were reported trafficked, with authorities rescuing thousands and arresting offenders. Meanwhile, missing person cases increased by 7.3%, while missing children cases rose by 7.8%, highlighting persistent concerns over trafficking, child safety, and vulnerable populations.
- Economic Offences: Increased by 4.6% in 2024, with forgery, cheating, and fraud (FCF) accounting for the majority of cases. Meanwhile,the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988 cases registered by the State Anti-Corruption Bureau remained largely stable, with most involving trap cases.
- Environment Related Offences: Declined by 16.4% in 2024, with most cases registered under the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA), 2003, followed by Noise Pollution Acts.
- State-Wise Variations: Telangana recorded a sharp rise in total cognisable crimes in 2024 and emerged among States with the highest crime rates (cases per lakh population) in the country.
- Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest per capita crime rate (7.4), followed by Arunachal Pradesh and Jharkhand.
- Nagaland continued to record the lowest crime rate in the country.
- The State/UT reporting highest Charge-sheeting Rate under IPC and BNS Crimes are Kerala (94.5%), Puducherry (91.0%) and West Bengal (90.6%).
- Among metropolitan cities, Delhi ranked worst in violent crimes (murders, kidnappings) and fourth worst in economic offences. Bengaluru has recorded the country’s highest suicide rate (20 per lakh population) among major metros.
