Lok Sabha Question No. 5115 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2026-03-24
Subject: Custodial Deaths
Ministry: HOME AFFAIRS
Asked by: Shri Rajkumar Roat, Shri Subbarayan K, Com. Selvaraj V

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA

## MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 5115

TO BE ANSWERED ON THE 24 TH  MARCH, 2026/ CHAITRA 3, 1948 (SAKA)

CUSTODIAL DEATHS

5115.    COM. SELVARAJ V: SHRI SUBBARAYAN K: SHRI RAJKUMAR ROAT:

Will the Minister of HOME AFFAIRS be pleased to state:

(a)  the  number  of  deaths  that  have  occurred  in  police  custody  and  police personnel arrested and convicted along other action taken against them in the  country  during  each  of  the  last  five  years,  State  and  category-wise including Districts of Rajasthan;

- (b)  the  number  of  undertrial  and  convicted  prisoners  currently  lodged  in various  jails  in  the  country,  State,  district  and  category-wise  including Rajasthan; and
- (c) whether the Government has any mechanism to ensure accountability of custodial deaths and if so, the details thereof?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HOME AFFAIRS (SHRI NITYANAND RAI)

(a):   As per information received from National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), details of cases registered in respect of death in Police custody in States/  UTs  including  Rajasthan  during  each  of  the  last  five  years  from 01.04.2021  to  15.03.2026  is  at  Annexure  I.    Regarding  disciplinary  action recommended by NHRC in cases of Custodial deaths in State/ UT including Rajasthan, there is only 1 case reported in Tamilnadu during last five years from 01.04.2021 to 15.03.2026. In this regard, District-wise information is not

maintained by the Commission.

## L.S.US.Q.NO. 5115 FOR 24.03.2026

(b):    As  per  the  latest  information  received  from  National  Crime  Record Bureau (NCRB), the details of under trial and convicted prisoners State/UTwise including Rajasthan as on 31st December, 2023 is at Annexure-II. In this regard, District-wise information is not maintained by the Bureau.

(c): 'Police and Public Order' are State subjects as per seventh schedule to the Constitution of India.  The Ministry of Home Affairs and National Human Rights  Commission  (NHRC)  issue  advisories  from  time  to  time  to  ensure protection of human rights.  Further, pursuant to the guidelines issued by the NHRC, every death in custody, police or judicial, natural or otherwise, is to be  reported  to  the  Commission  within  24  hours  of  its  occurrence.  The Commission  also  issued  guidelines  for  video  filming  of  post-mortem  and circulated model autopsy form to rule out any negligence/foul play or torture in  custodial  deaths.    If  an  enquiry  by  the  Commission  into  police/judicial custodial deaths discloses negligence by a public servant, the Commission recommends  to  authorities  of  Central/State  governments  for  initiation  of proceedings for prosecution against erring public servant.  The disciplinary action against the erring public servant is to be taken by the respective State Government as per extant rules, procedures, etc.

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## L.S.US.Q.NO. 5115 FOR 24.03.2026

## Statement showing State- wise total no. of cases registered in respect of custodial deaths during the period from 01.04.2021 to 15.03.2026.

|   S. No. | STATE/UT Name       |   2021-22 |   2022-23 |   2023-24 |   2024-25 |   2025-up to 15.03.2026 |
|----------|---------------------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-----------|-------------------------|
|        1 | ANDHRA PRADESH      |         1 |         5 |         3 |         1 |                       1 |
|        2 | ARUNACHAL PRADESH   |         0 |         3 |         3 |         5 |                       3 |
|        3 | ASSAM               |         9 |        11 |         8 |        13 |                       5 |
|        4 | BIHAR               |        18 |        16 |        13 |        10 |                      19 |
|        5 | CHHATTISGARH        |         2 |         1 |         2 |         3 |                       4 |
|        6 | GOA                 |         1 |         2 |         1 |         0 |                       0 |
|        7 | GUJARAT             |        24 |        15 |        18 |        14 |                      14 |
|        8 | HARYANA             |         4 |         3 |         7 |         4 |                      10 |
|        9 | HIMACHAL PRADESH    |         0 |         1 |         0 |         2 |                       1 |
|       10 | JHARKHAND           |         5 |         5 |         4 |         7 |                       3 |
|       11 | KARNATAKA           |         8 |         5 |         7 |         2 |                       3 |
|       12 | KERALA              |         6 |         2 |         6 |         5 |                       3 |
|       13 | MADHYAPRADESH       |         8 |         8 |        12 |         8 |                       8 |
|       14 | MAHARASHTRA         |        30 |        22 |        21 |        14 |                      14 |
|       15 | MANIPUR             |         1 |         2 |         1 |         0 |                       0 |
|       16 | MEGHALAYA           |         4 |         0 |         1 |         3 |                       0 |
|       17 | MIZORAM             |         1 |         0 |         0 |         0 |                       0 |
|       18 | NAGALAND            |         2 |         0 |         1 |         0 |                       1 |
|       19 | ODISHA              |         2 |         3 |         2 |         2 |                       9 |
|       20 | PUNJAB              |         9 |        10 |         6 |         6 |                      14 |
|       21 | RAJASTHAN           |        13 |         4 |         7 |         9 |                      18 |
|       22 | SIKKIM              |         1 |         0 |         0 |         0 |                       0 |
|       23 | TAMIL NADU          |         4 |         7 |         4 |         5 |                       7 |
|       24 | TELANGANA           |         4 |         1 |         1 |         1 |                       5 |
|       25 | TRIPURA             |         1 |         1 |         0 |         0 |                       0 |
|       26 | UTTAR PRADESH       |         8 |        10 |        12 |        11 |                      15 |
|       27 | UTTARAKHAND         |         2 |         4 |         0 |         1 |                       2 |
|       28 | WEST BENGAL         |         5 |        15 |         8 |         7 |                       7 |
|       29 | ANDAMAN & NICOBAR   |         0 |         0 |         0 |         1 |                       1 |
|       30 | CHANDIGARH          |         0 |         0 |         0 |         1 |                       0 |
|       31 | DADRA &NAGAR HAVELI |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |                       0 |
|       32 | DAMAN &DIU          |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |                       0 |
|       33 | DELHI               |         1 |         5 |         7 |         3 |                       4 |
|       34 | JAMMU &KASHMIR      |         2 |         2 |         2 |         2 |                       0 |
|       35 | LADAKH              |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |                       0 |
|       36 | LAKSHADWEEP         |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |                       0 |
|       37 | PUDUCHERRY          |         0 |         0 |         0 |         0 |                       1 |
|       38 | TOTAL               |       176 |       163 |       157 |       140 |                     170 |

## Details of Undertrial and Convicted  Prisoners as on 31 st  December, 2023

| S.No.   | State/UT                         | Convicts   | Convicts   | Convicts   | Convicts   | Undertrials   | Undertrials   | Undertrials   | Undertrials   |
|---------|----------------------------------|------------|------------|------------|------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|---------------|
|         |                                  | M          | F          | Tr.        | Total      | M             | F (8)         | Tr.           | Total         |
| (1)     | (2)                              | (3) 2101   | (4)        | (5)        | (6)        | (7) 5261      | 298           | (9) 9         | (10) 5568     |
| 1. 2.   | ANDHRA PRADESH ARUNACHAL PRADESH | 167        | 112        | 0          | 2213       |               |               |               |               |
|         |                                  |            | 5          | 0          | 172        | 182           | 6             | 0             | 188           |
| 3.      | ASSAM                            | 3020       | 76         | 0          | 3096       | 7217          | 329           | 0             | 7546          |
| 4.      | BIHAR                            | 6336       | 208        | 0          | 6544       | 44706         | 1821          | 2             | 46529         |
| 5.      | CHHATTISGARH GOA                 | 6586       | 306 2      | 0          | 6892       | 11047         | 471           | 2             | 11520         |
| 6.      |                                  | 88         |            | 0          | 90         | 443           | 33            | 0             | 476           |
| 7.      | GUJARAT                          | 4970       | 180        | 4          | 5154       | 11183         | 364           | 2             | 11549         |
| 8.      | HARYANA                          | 6095       | 198        | 0          | 6293       | 18691         | 600           | 1             | 19292         |
| 9.      | HIMACHAL PRADESH                 | 957        | 31         | 0          | 988        | 1760          | 67            | 0             | 1827          |
| 10.     | JHARKHAND                        | 5034       | 221        | 0          | 5255       | 12997         | 587           | 0             | 13584         |
| 11.     | KARNATAKA                        | 3349       | 132        | 0          | 3481       | 11344         | 379           | 0             | 11723         |
| 12.     | KERALA                           | 3514       | 63         | 0          | 3577       | 5897          | 166           | 1             | 6064          |
| 13. 14. | MAHARASHTRA                      | 7702       | 298        | 0          | 8000       | 31011         | 1401          | 26            | 32438         |
| 15.     | MANIPUR                          | 115        | 3          | 0          | 118        | 388           | 28            | 0             | 416           |
| 16.     | MEGHALAYA MIZORAM                | 396        | 6          | 0 0        | 402        | 864           | 17            | 0             | 881           |
| 17.     |                                  | 638        | 72         |            | 710        | 1038          | 209           | 0             | 1247          |
| 18.     | NAGALAND                         | 147        | 0          | 0          | 147        | 407           | 25            | 0             | 432           |
| 19.     | ODISHA                           | 3278       | 85         | 1          | 3364       | 14266         | 509           | 3             | 14778         |
| 20.     | PUNJAB                           | 6666       | 310        | 0          | 6976       | 23308         | 1186          | 9             | 24503         |
| 21.     | RAJASTHAN                        | 5293       | 126        | 1          | 5420       | 16799         | 464           | 0             | 17263         |
| 22.     | SIKKIM                           | 145        | 2          | 0          | 147        | 170           | 1             | 0             | 171           |
| 23.     | TAMIL NADU                       | 5781       | 248        | 2          | 6031       | 11739         | 612           | 0             | 12351         |
| 24.     | TELANGANA                        | 1885       | 117        | 0          | 2002       | 3562          | 236           | 1             | 3799          |
| 25.     | TRIPURA                          | 461        | 19         | 0          | 480        | 783           | 64            | 0             | 847           |
| 26. 27. | UTTARAKHAND                      | 2382       | 105        | 0          | 2487       | 4234          | 163           | 1             | 4398          |
| 28.     | WEST BENGAL                      | 4480       | 449        | 12         | 4941       | 19017         | 1264          | 13            | 20294         |
|         | TOTAL (STATES)                   | 127058     | 5429       | 22         | 132509     | 351087        | 14973         | 79            | 366139        |
| 29.     | A & N ISLANDS                    | 203        | 2          | 0          | 205        | 166           | 2             | 0             | 168           |
| 30.     | CHANDIGARH                       | 331        | 20         | 0          | 351        | 696           | 22            | 0             | 718           |
| 31.     | DNH & DAMAN DIU                  | 10         | 0          | 0          | 10         | 133           | 1             | 0             | 134           |
| 32.     | DELHI                            | 2070       | 69         | 0          | 2139       | 17183         | 644           | 7             | 17834         |
| 33.     | JAMMU & KASHMIR                  | 193        | 6          | 0          | 199        | 4399          | 169           | 0             | 4568          |
| 34.     | LADAKH                           | 4          | 0          | 0          | 4          | 42            | 0             | 0             | 42            |
| 35.     | LAKSHADWEEP                      | 0          | 0          | 0          | 0          | 3             | 0             | 0             | 3             |
|         | PUDUCHERRY                       | 116        | 3          | 0          | 119        | 290           | 14            | 0             | 304           |
| 36.     |                                  |            |            |            |            |               |               |               |               |
|         | TOTAL (ALL- INDIA)               | 129985     | 5529       |            | 135536     | 373999        |               | 86            | 389910        |
|         | TOTAL (UTs)                      | 2927       | 100        | 0 22       | 3027       | 22912         | 852 15825     | 7             | 23771         |

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