Telangana recorded a sharp rise in total cognisable crimes in 2024 and emerged among States with the highest crime rates (cases per lakh population) in the country, according to a report by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).

The State registered 2,17,976 total IPC/BNS and Special and Local Laws (SLL) crimes in 2024, compared to 1,83,644 cases in 2023, marking an increase of 34,332 cases or nearly 18.7%.

The NCRB data showed that Telangana’s crime rate stood at 568.9 cognisable crimes per lakh population in 2024, significantly higher than the national average of 418.9. Only Kerala, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu recorded a substantially higher crime rate at 1,389, with Gujarat at 847 and Tamil Nadu at 655.4.

Telangana recorded higher crime rates than several major States, including Haryana at 578.6, Maharashtra at 477.6, Madhya Pradesh at 494.4, Karnataka at 290.6, Uttar Pradesh at 296.6 and West Bengal at 181.3.

The State’s overall crime figures have steadily risen over the last three years. Telangana recorded 1,65,830 total crimes in 2022, which increased to 1,83,644 in 2023 before rising further to 2,17,976 in 2024.

Despite the rise in crimes, Telangana’s chargesheeting rate improved marginally from previous years and stood at 74.2% in 2024. However, it remained below the national average chargesheeting rate of 80.3%.

In terms of absolute crime, Uttar Pradesh recorded the highest number of total IPC/BNS and SLL crimes among States at 7,08,399 cases, followed by Gujarat at 6,15,407, Maharashtra at 6,09,823 and Tamil Nadu at 5,05,754 cases. Telangana recorded 2,17,976 cases.

Nationally, a total of 58,85,867 IPC/BNS and SLL crimes were registered in 2024, compared to 62,41,569 in 2023, indicating an overall decline in crimes across the country.