Punjabcontinued to top the country in 2020 with a 22.9% crime rate (per lakh population) in cases registered under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act, 1985.As many as 6,909 cases under theNDPS Actwere registered last year across Punjab and of these, 4,039 were for possession of drugs for trafficking and 2,870 for possession of drugs for personal consumption, according to Crime in India 2020, released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) on Wednesday. In absolute numbers, Uttar Pradesh is ahead of Punjab with a total of 10,852 registered cases last year under the NDPS Act but its crime rate is 4.7%.

Based on the 2011 Census survey, Punjabs projected Population in mid-2020 was 3.01 crore. Punjab was also at the top of the chart in 2019 but its crime rate per lakh population under the NDPS Act was 38.5% as a total of 11,536 cases were registered.

Himachal Pradesh, on the other hand, has climbed to the second spot in the country with 20.9% cases registered (per lakh population) under the NDPS Act last year. Out of the total 1,538 cases recorded under the NDPS Act in Himachal last year, 1,148 were for possession of drugs for trafficking and 390 for the possession of drugs for personal consumption. Himachals projected population was 73.62 lakh in mid-2020. The hill state was at the third spot in the country in 2019 with a crime rate of 19.7% per lakh population, with a total of 1,439 registered NDPS Act cases.

The number of cyber-crime cases in Punjab increased from 239 in 2018 to 243 in 2019 and 378 in 2020 even during the Covid-19 induced lockdown when many other crimes witnessed a downward slide. Punjab has a 16% conviction rate in cyber-crime cases.