Preventive detentions in 2021 saw a rise of over 23.7% compared to the year before, with over 1.1 lakh people being placed under preventive detention, according to the latest crime statistics released by the National Crime Records Bureau last month.
Of these, 483 were detentions under the National Security Act, of which almost half (241) were either in custody or still detained as of the end of 2021. A total of over 24,500 people placed under preventive detention were either in custody or still detained as of the end of last year — the highest since 2017 when the NCRB started recording this data.
In 2017, the NCRB’s Crime in India report found that a total of 67,084 persons had been detained as a preventive measure that year. Of these, the report said 48,815 were released between one and six months of their detention and 18,269 were either in custody or still in preventive detention as of the end of the year.
