More than 2,900 cases of communal violence reported in five years: Nityanand Rai

New Delhi: Minister of State for Home Affairs, Nityanand Rai in a reply in Rajya Sabha said that more than 2,900 cases of communal violence were reported in the country in the last 5 years.

He said that a decrease has been recorded in such cases in 2021 compared to the previous years.

Rai, in a written reply on Wednesday said that between 2017 and 2021, 2,908 cases of communal or religious riots were registered.

Citing data from the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), Rai said that 378 cases of communal or religious riots were registered in 2021, 857 in 2020, 438 in 2019, 512 in 2018 and 723 in 2017.

He added that the NCRB did not maintain any separate data regarding cases of mob lynching.

Rai said that on July 4, 2018, an advisory was issued to states and Union Territories to keep a watch on the spread of fake news and rumours that could incite violence, to take all necessary measures to effectively counter them, and to deal strictly with people flouting laws.

Rai said that advisories were issued to the state governments and Union Territory administrations on July 23 and September 25 in 2018, asking them to take measures to prevent incidents of mob violence in the country.