Illegal migration and infiltration have been raised as key issues ahead of the Bihar polls; according to NCRB data, most of such cases in 2023 were registered in West Bengal, followed by Tripura.
With the Bharatiya Janata Party raising illegal migration and infiltration as key issues ahead of the Assembly election in Bihar, latest data by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) show that only five cases pertaining to the Foreigners and Passport Acts were registered in the State in 2023. The number of such cases in 2022 and 2021 stood at three and one, respectively.
In 2023, across India, a total of 2,290 cases were registered under the Registration of Foreigners Act, 1939; Foreigners Act, 1946; Passport Act, 1967; Emigration Act, 1983; and Citizenship Act, 1955, according to the “Crime in India Report 2023” released by the NCRB on Monday.
The highest of 1,050 such cases were registered in West Bengal, followed by 277 cases in Tripura, 272 in Maharashtra, 167 in Tamil Nadu, and 78 in Punjab.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah have both invoked the issue of infiltration in Bihar in their recent speeches to justify the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls carried out by the Election Commission of India in the State.
Foreign prisoners
The “Prison Statistics of India 2023” report, also released on Monday, said that the number of foreigners in the country’s prisons had risen from 6,283 in 2022 to 6,956 in 2023, an increase of 10.7%. Among them, 21.5% (1,499 inmates) were convicts, 74.3% (5,167 inmates) undertrials and 0.4% (25 inmates) detenues.
Bangladeshi nationals made up the most number of foreign convicts in Indian jails (59.4%), followed by 13.3% from Nepal, 10.46% from Myanmar, 6.5% from Pakistan, and 3.9% from Nigeria.
Offences against State
The total number of cases pertaining to “offences against the State” declined by 13.1% in 2023 compared with 2022. A total of 4,873 such cases were registered in 2023, compared with 5,610 in 2022.
Of these, 81.9% of cases (3,989) were registered under the Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act and 15.4% cases (750) under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA).
In 2022, the number of cases registered under the UAPA stood at 1,005.
Most of the cases under the UAPA were filed in Uttar Pradesh (224), followed by Jammu and Kashmir (178), Manipur (113), Assam (73), and Jharkhand (36).
Environmental offences
Environment-related offences saw an increase of 30.4% in 2023 with 68,994 cases registered as against 52,920 in 2022. With regard to types of environment-related crimes registered, data revealed that the Cigarette and Other Tobacco Products Act (COTPA) accounted for 85.9% of cases (59,279), followed by the Noise Pollution Acts (State/Central) with 9.6% of cases(6,640).
