Hyderabad: Besides violent crimes and cases of sexual harassment, both states have had a significant number of cases solely booked under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act last year.
While Andhra Pradesh police booked over 600 cases, Telangana police registered over 350 cases.
Despite special officers being deputed to investigate such cases, the pendency in these cases — at investigation and judicial level — remains higher, according to data from the NCRB.
Police officials say the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act is sometimes misused in various ways. The NCRB data shows that eight to nine per cent of cases booked under this act, turned out to be false.
“The fact that nine per cent of total cases booked were false, indicates that this law is being misused by a few individuals.
“But at the same time, some cases within this nine per cent may have been genuine.
“The prosecutors failed the case because of weak investigations,” a senior cop from Telangana police said.
