The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) in its latest report, stated that cases of communal or religious rioting in 2020 nearly doubled from 2019 despite India witnessing “very limited” outdoor activities due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The NCRB, which functions under the Union Home Ministry, in its annual report said that 857 cases of communal or religious rioting were reported in the country in 2020.

In 2019, India had logged 438 such cases across states and Union Territories while the figure was 512 in 2018, it added.

The NRCB further added that India remained under complete lockdown from March 25, 2020, till May 31, 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic (first wave), during which the movement in public space was “very limited”.

The report mentioned that 2020 witnessed several protests and demonstrations on citizenship laws and communal riots in northeast Delhi during January and February while the pandemic outbreak started in March.

As compared to 492 cases in 2019 and 656 cases in 2018, 2020 witnessed a total of 736 cases of ‘caste conflict’. Another 167 cases were lodged under the ‘sectarian’ conflict category in 2020, up from 118 in 2019. In 2018, there were 209 recorded cases.

The NCRB report stated that a total of 71,107 cases of ‘offences against public tranquillity’ were lodged across the country in 2020, an increase of 12.4% over 63,262 such cases in 2019.

As many as 2,188 cases of such offences were lodged under the ‘agrarian’ category while 1,905 for ‘rioting during protests or demonstrations’, the data revealed.

Of the total offences against public tranquility recorded under various sections of the Indian Penal Code in 2020, rioting (51,606 cases) accounted for 72.6% of total such cases, the data added.

“The cases registered under crimes against women, children and senior citizens, theft, burglary, robbery and dacoity have therefore declined, whereas COVID-related enforcement has resulted in increase of cases registered under ‘disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant (Section 188 IPC)’, under ‘Other IPC Crimes’ and under ‘Other State Local Acts’,” the NCRB report added.