Punjab lockups easiest to escape from: NCRB

Jupinderjit Singh

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, September 16

The Punjab Police lockups are the most vulnerable in the country with highest number of accused fleeing from the state police stations in 2020, as per the NCRB report released on Wednesday.

The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), which compiles and analyses crime data of all states for every year, has also ranked Punjab number one in booking cops for their negligence, leading to the escape.

Thirty-one accused broke free from the police lockups in Punjab, followed by 22 in Gujarat and 14 in Madhya Pradesh in 2020. These accused fled within first 24 hours of the arrest or during police remand.

The state ranked third on the list of total number of escapees, both from inside and outside the lockup. As many as 86 accused fled from the police custody in Punjab as compared to top-ranked Maharashtra (103) and Madhya Pradesh (92).

In escapes from outside the lockups (on way to court or while being brought to police station), Punjab is ranked fourth with 55 escapes. Maharashtra topped the list with 92 escapes, followed by Madhya Pradesh (78) and Odisha (68).

Punjab was also swift in taking action against cops for their negligence, which led to escapes by criminals. Punjab ranked first in the country as it booked 39 cops, while UP was second by registering cases against 24 cops and Haryana third with 11 cases.

However, only three of the 39 booked cops were convicted for negligence. This still made Punjab second in the dubious category in the country. Madhya Pradesh topped the chart with nine convictions.

Death on duty

• With 40 cops dying in accidents, Punjab is third on the list after Tamil Nadu where 55 cops died and UP, which recorded 43 deaths
• In the category of total deaths of policemen on duty, Punjab ranked fourth with 43 deaths. Chhattisgarh recorded maximum deaths (78), followed by Tamil Nadu (60) and UP (52)

Ammunition seizure

• With the recovery of 6,658 ammunition, mainly bullets and grenades, Punjab ranked third on the list
• Uttar Pradesh topped the chart with 12,908 such recoveries, followed by Bihar with 12,117

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