The Union Home Ministry has started collecting data related to attacks on mediapersons, RTI activists and whistleblowers in the background of a series of assaults on them in Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh recently.


The collection of data is being done by National Crime Records Bureau based here which has introduced three new  categories -- attack on mediapersons, attack on whistleblowers and attack on RTI activists -- in its form circulated to police stations across the country this year.


There was no centralised data on attacks of RTI activists, whistleblowers and journalists as investigation of cases were handled by state police and there was also no clarity on definition of these three categories. NCRB will be collecting the data under the heading of grievous hurt of varying degrees which are being registered under relevant sections of IPC.