No NCRB data on mob lynchings: Minister tells LS

Minister of state for home affairs Nityanand Rai said that the Centre had issued advisories to states on July 4 last year, to keep a watch on the circulation of fake news which can incite violence.

The Centre on Tuesday told Parliament that the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB), which compiles data on crime rates, does not maintain specific data on lynching incidents in the country.

Muslims staging a silent demonstration in protest of recent mob lynching of a Muslim youth at Jharkhand's Kharswan district at MG road in Ranchi. (Diwakar Prasad/ Hindustan Times)

Furnishing the information in response to a question by Revolutionary Socialist Party Kollam MP NK Premachandran, minister of state for home affairs Nityanand Rai said the Centre had issued advisories to states on July 4, 2018, to keep a watch on the circulation of fake news which can incite violence.

Premachandran had enquired about the steps being taken by the Centre in cases of mob lynching across the country.

Rai further said since ‘police’ and ‘public order’ are state subjects under the Seventh Schedule, it is the responsibility of the state governments to prosecute the accused in such cases.

The ministry has asked service providers to take steps to check the spread of false news and rumours, Rai said.