With one custodial death per week, AP stands 15th

VIJAYAWADA: Reporting at least one death in the police custody a week, state of Andhra Pradesh stood 15th position in the cases registered pertaining to custodial deaths. In a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha, the union minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai informed that a total of 98 cases were registered relating to custodial deaths from April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2022. He also informed that four cases have been registered pertaining to the deaths in police encounters during the same period.

The member of parliament from Malappuram constituency MP Abdussamad Samadani sought details from Home Affairs seeking whether the custodial death cases are on the rise in the country and number of encounter deaths reported in the past two years. He also requested the government to furnish the details if it has set up any mechanism to investigate such complaints and the details of the actions taken by the government against fake encounters and custodial deaths.

According to the statistics provided by the ministry, Andhra Pradesh reported 48 cases of custodial deaths so far from April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022, against 50 in the previous year during April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2021. Uttar Pradesh tops the list with 501 cases, followed by West Bengal with 257 and Bihar with 237 cases. “A total of 2544 cases were reported in the period between April 2021 to March 2022 across the country. There is a decrease of two cases in Andhra Pradesh,” according to the statistics. Similarly, there is an increase in deaths in police encounters by 66 percent with reporting 3 cases in 2022 against 1 in 2021.

UP tops list with 501

Andhra Pradesh reported 48 cases of custodial deaths so far from April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2022, against 50 in the previous year during April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2021. Uttar Pradesh tops the list with 501 cases, followed by West Bengal with 257 and Bihar with 237 cases.