Claims of self-defence, allegations of abuse, and investigations that end in clean chits have become familiar elements of Gujarat’s policing record.
National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data places Gujarat among those with the highest custodial deaths. And recent cases underline the unresolved struggle between official accounts and demands for accountability.
Here’s some bare facts published by a national daily in a detailed report.
Since 2020, Gujarat has reported the highest number of custodial deaths in India. The number dropped by just one case in 2023 compared to 2022, according to the NCRB report published by the media outlet. In the early 2000s, the state had seen a series of police encounter deaths that were investigated under court supervision, leading to the arrest of several police personnel.
Data cannot lie
Gujarat NCRB data records three custodial deaths linked to alleged police assaults between 2019 and 2023.
Between 2019 and 2023, of Gujarat’s 75 custodial deaths, only two occurred in remand custody, while 73 were not in remand. Across India, of the 386 custodial deaths during this period, 231 were not in remand and 155 were in remand.
NCRB data shows that most custodial deaths occur while accused persons are ‘not in remand’ rather than ‘in remand’. ‘Not in remand’ refers to arrested persons yet to be produced before court, while ‘in remand’ refers to police or judicial custody. In 2023, both Gujarat and Maharashtra reported 13 deaths in the ‘not in remand’ category, while Maharashtra reported four deaths in remand and Gujarat none.
Further, the data published by the daily reveals that between 2019 and 2023, there were three incidents in Gujarat in which accused persons died in custody allegedly due to physical assault by police, one in 2019 and two in 2021.
The NCRB’s 2023 report, released in October last year, shows that Maharashtra and Gujarat together accounted for nearly half of India’s custodial deaths that year, 30 of 62. Gujarat reported 13 custodial deaths in 2023, while Maharashtra reported 17. These two states have recorded the highest custodial death numbers for three consecutive years — 2021, 2022 and 2023.
NCRB data shows illness and suicide as the leading causes of custodial deaths in Gujarat and nationwide, without specifying comorbidities. Of Gujarat’s 13 custodial deaths in 2023, five were reported as suicides, seven due to illness and one due to a prior injury. Across India, 24 of the 62 custodial deaths were attributed to suicide and 27 to illness.
Between 2019 and 2023, Gujarat recorded 75 custodial deaths, 31 by suicide and 32 due to illness. Across India, 386 custodial deaths were reported during the same period, with 150 attributed to suicide and 167 to illness.
“While this is the official data, the number of cases could be even higher,” Human rights activist Father Cedric Prakash told the Vibes of India. “It’s a shame that such a thing is happening.”
Alleging that the system is criminalised, he advocated action against those who have not maintained law and order and also not ensured medical care for the accused.
Gujarat Congress spokesperson Dr Manish Doshi told the Vibes of India that custodial death is the real face of the BJP. “Usually, people from the lower strata of the society are victims of custodial deaths and not the rich,” he observed.
Further, he lamented, “Despite guidelines by the Supreme Court, several measures required for police reforms have not been undertaken in Gujarat.”
FIR against police
Will the guardians of law be accountable? One such case emerged in 2021, in which courts directed that an FIR be lodged against policemen. The investigation, however, was later closed with a clean chit to all the accused personnel, even as the court has yet to take a final decision.
That case dates back to November 6, 2021, when Surendranagar police allegedly shot dead Hanifkhan Jat Malek, 45, a member of the ‘Talpatri’ gang, and his 14-year-old son Madeenkhan, claiming they had fired in self-defence.
Following directions from the Gujarat High Court, Hanifkhan’s 13-year-old daughter Suhanakhan approached the sessions court, which led to an investigation against the policemen involved.
An FIR was registered on May 29, 2025, at Bajana police station against sub-inspector Virendrasinh Jadeja, head constables Rajeshbhai Mithapara and Kirit Solanki, and constables Shaileshbhai Kathevadiya, Digvijaysinh Zala, Prahladbhai Charmata and Manubhai Fatepara, booking them for murder. Within seven months, police filed a closure report before a magisterial court in Surendranagar, The Indian Express has learnt.
Deputy Superintendent of Police Jugal D Purohit, the investigation officer, said that after completing the probe, police had filed a C-summary before the court, concluding that the firing on Hanifkhan and Madeenkhan was in self-defence. A C-summary indicates nil findings of guilt against the accused. The Surendranagar magisterial court is expected to hear the matter shortly.
The most recent police encounter in the state was reported on September 24, 2025, when Gujarat Police shot dead 32-year-old Vipul alias Neel Vishnu Parmar at a secluded spot along the Narmada Canal in Adalaj, Gandhinagar district. The incident occurred four days after Parmar allegedly assaulted a young couple in their vehicle, killing a fashion model, Vaibhav Manvani, with 12 stab wounds on his 25th birthday.
Parmar had been accused or convicted in at least 10 other cases, including two cases of loot and one of murder. In all three cases, the victims were either alone or couples sitting along isolated stretches of the Narmada Canal in the Adalaj area. According to the Gandhinagar Local Crime Branch, Parmar snatched a police weapon and fired at personnel during a crime scene reconstruction, injuring one officer, after which police fired in self-defence, killing him. A magisterial inquiry is underway.
Another case last year involved Karansinh Malaji Jadeja, a 21-year-old from Bharana village in Dwarka district, who died after consuming the herbicide ‘Sarvanash’. Jadeja allegedly attempted suicide after he and a friend were stopped by police on August 17, beaten on the road and at the Vadinar harbour police chowki. He consumed the herbicide on August 18 and died in hospital 11 days later.
An FIR was registered on September 4, 2025, at Vadinar Marine Police station against head constables Pradipsinh alias Pradyumansinh Dhirubha Gohil and Karsan Rajsinh Gojiya, booking them for assault and abetment to suicide.
Police inspector M R Sauvseta, now posted at Kalyanpur police station, who investigated the case, said their anticipatory bail pleas were rejected by the sessions court and the Gujarat High Court, following which they were arrested and sent to judicial custody.
He said a chargesheet was filed in December 2025 based on evidence including videos in which the deceased stated that the assault by the two police personnel drove him to attempt suicide, a claim he also made in his dying declaration before an executive magistrate.
The daily cited another example. On September 13, 2025, four constables of Botad Town police station — Kaushik Jani, Yogesh Solanki, Ajay Rathod, Kuldeepsinh Vaghela and others unidentified — were booked for alleged police brutality against a 17-year-old boy over several days in August. A petition in the case is pending before the Gujarat High Court.
The minor was allegedly kept under illegal confinement for eight to nine days, beaten repeatedly, and Rs 50,000 was allegedly extorted from his elderly grandparents. On January 9, the High Court disposed of the Special Criminal Application after police informed it that an FIR had been registered, and two of the five accused had been arrested and chargesheeted. The investigation officer was unavailable for comment.
In another case, the National Human Rights Commission took notice on October 15, 2025, of reports that a minor was allegedly tortured at a Rajkot police station. The incident had occurred on September 1 but came to light on October 6 when a video circulated on social media, showing a man violently pulling the boy’s hair inside the police station staff room.
Following this, a sanitation worker and a constable were booked under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita and the Juvenile Justice Act. Police inspector S R Meghani said a chargesheet was filed in December 2025, but the accused were not sent to judicial custody since the offences carried a punishment of less than seven years. The trial in the case has now begun.
Dark 2025
Apart from the Gandhinagar encounter involving Vipul alias Neel Purohit, there were seven more instances within 50 days in the latter half of 2025 in which Gujarat police shot and injured accused persons in one or both legs, citing attempts to attack police or escape custody.
On December 30, 2025, around 7.45 pm, Ashok Punaram Panwar alias Bishnoi allegedly tried to strangle a sub-inspector with a seat belt while being transported by the State Monitoring Cell from Guwahati to Gujarat.
Inspector R J Khant shot Panwar, an alleged bootlegging gang leader booked under GujCTOC, in the leg. He was taken to a community health centre and later referred to Zydus Civil Hospital, Dahod. Earlier that day, Surendranagar police shot a riot accused in the leg during a crime scene reconstruction after he allegedly attacked a policeman with a knife.
That Surendranagar incident occurred between 5 pm and 6 pm in Shiyani village of Limbdi. The accused, Divyaraj alias Bull Shiva Borana, booked on December 2 for rioting and related offences, was injured when sub-inspector V M Kodiyatar fired five rounds, one of which struck him.
December 2025 alone saw six such incidents of police firing on accused persons, including two in a single day. Two of the accused were involved in sexual assault or rape cases.
Other incidents included a November 11 firing in Bilimora by State Monitoring Cell inspector C H Panara to thwart an alleged escape attempt by weapons trafficker Yash Singh Sundersingh; a December 7 shooting by Ahmedabad City Police’s Detection of Crime Branch involving a rape accused; a December 15 incident in Surat involving an accused attempting to snatch a service pistol; and a December 20 firing by Gandhinagar Police involving an accused in the rape of a four-year-old girl.
And so, between self-defence claims and clean chits, the victims’ stories remain unresolved, leaving the state’s custodial death toll as both a statistic and a silent indictment.
Also Read: SC Rejects Sanjiv Bhatt’s Custodial Death Bail Plea https://www.vibesofindia.com/sc-rejects-sanjiv-bhatts-custodial-death-bail-plea/
