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Police officials present before press three accused arrested in connection with the theft of idols from a Jain temple, in Gurgaon, Haryana, on January 19, 2016. As many as 69,427 more repeat offenders were arrested in 2015 than in 2012, among more than 3.6 million arrested under the Indian Penal Code, an increase of 11% (366,580) over 2012.

There was a 31% increase in arrests of recidivists—criminals who relapse into crime after release—nationwide over four years to 2015, according to data released by the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB).

As many as 69,427 more repeat offenders were arrested in 2015 than in 2012, among more than 3.6 million arrested under the Indian Penal Code (IPC)--an increase of 11% (366,580) over 2012.

In absolute numbers, most people—more than half a million—were imprisoned in Uttar Pradesh, India’s most-populous state, in 2015, followed by Madhya Pradesh (sixth most-populous), Maharashtra (second), Kerala (12th) and Tamil Nadu (seventh).

Arrests in 2015, By State

Source: National Crime Records Bureau

Nagaland reported the highest increase (89%) in people arrested over four years to 2015, followed by Meghalaya (72%), Delhi (72%) and Assam (57%).

Andhra Pradesh reported the highest decline (40%) of citizens imprisoned, followed by Tripura (37%), Manipur (32%) and Jharkhand (32%).

Bihar, India’s second-most populous state, reported the highest increase in recidivism over four years to 2015---4,594%, or almost 47 times, with arrests of almost 34,000 more repeat offenders--followed by Arunachal Pradesh (1,263%), Puducherry (498%), Kerala (330%) and Assam (330%).

Odisha reported the highest drop in recidivism (98%), followed by Goa (82%), Jammu and Kashmir (78%), Karnataka (68%) and Uttarakhand (60%).

In terms of absolute numbers, Madhya Pradesh with 47,579 arrests had the highest number of repeat offenders who got jailed in 2015, followed by Tamil Nadu (40,985), Bihar (34,550), Andhra Pradesh (24,132) and West Bengal (14,676).

(Grocchetti is a multimedia journalist and has a BA degree from Napier University, Edinburgh.)

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