Moreover, the NCRB, which is the agency responsible for collecting and analysing data about crime in India, has not published any data for the years after 2016. Their report ‘Crime in India’ 2016, released in 2017, is the last one published by the agency. Therefore, there are no official statistics on crime in India post 2016 that have been released by the government.

In July 2017, the NCRB had announced that they were planning to collect detailed data on lynchings, according to a report by The Indian Express. NCRB Director Ish Kumar had confirmed the existence of such a plan to The Sunday Express, saying that it was still in the initial stages.

The Quint has reached out to NCRB officials and this article will be updated if and when they respond.