Gujarat recorded over 8,900 violent crimes in 2023; charge sheets filed in 83 pc cases

Ahmedabad, Sep 30 (PTI) More than 8,900 incidents of violent crime were reported in Gujarat in 2023, a little less than the previous year's figure, as per the latest National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report.

The state's rate of violent crimes per lakh of population was almost half of the national rate.

A total of 8,976 incidents of violent crime were reported in 2023, a decrease of 39 compared to the 2022 tally of 9,015.

The figure translates into 12.5 incidents per lakh population, based on Gujarat's mid-year projected population estimate of 7.17 crore.

It was a little more than half of the All India violent crime rate of 31.2 incidents per lakh population. Among the 28 states, only Nagaland (6.5) and Andhra Pradesh (12.1) recorded crime rates lower than that of Gujarat in 2023.

While the All India' "charge-sheeting rate" in such cases stood at 74.1 per cent, Gujarat clocked an impressive average of 83.8 per cent in 2023. In other words, the state police investigated and filed charge-sheets in 83.8 per cent of cases of violent crime.

Gujarat was behind Kerala (94.1), West Bengal (93.2), Tamil Nadu (89.4) and Andhra Pradesh (89.3) in this regard.

It reported 968 cases of murder, 890 cases of attempt to murder, 148 cases of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, 12 cases of dowry deaths and 3,461 cases of grievous hurt in 2023.

Further, 1,792 cases of abduction, 634 cases of rape, 131 cases of rioting, 541 cases of robbery, 136 cases of dacoity and 170 cases of arson were reported in the state in 2023.

Of 968 cases of murder, one each was on account of "casteism" and "dowry" while "witchcraft" was behind two murders.

One murder took place due to "political reasons" while a serial killer or psychopath was behind two murders in 2023, the data showed. Other cases were put down to disputes, personal enmity or quarrels.

Also, 7,805 cases of crime against women were reported in Gujarat in 2023, slightly lower than the previous year tally of 7,731. PTI PJT PD KRK