AHMEDABAD: One murder and one attempted murder takes place every five days in Ahmedabad. In the past five years, between October 1, 2015 to September 30, 2020, the city reported 371 incidents of murder and 395 incidents of attempt to murder. This was revealed in the data tabled in the state assembly on Wednesday.
The highest number of murder and attempted murder cases were reported from Surat city. While Ahmedabad recorded the second highest incidents of murder and attempted murder in the past five years, the city had the highest incidents (119) of attempted murder in 2019-20 followed by 79 cases in Surat.
The official data was tabled in the assembly in response to questions raised by Congress MLA Shailesh Parmar. The data reveals that number of murders was the lowest in 2019-20 since 2015-16 (October 1 to September 30). The officials said that in 2019-20, there were 60 murders — a decline of 18% as compared to 2018-19 during the same period. However, attempted murder cases rose to 112 in 2019-20 compared to 98 attempted murder cases in 2018-19.
The data also revealed that a total of 967 accused have been arrested and only 13 accused were yet to be arrested. Also, in the cases of attempt to murder, the city police has arrested 1,196 accused while 23 were absconding.
A senior police officer who asked not to be identified said the arrests of 36 accused in over 700 incidents of murder and attempted murder were pending as they may have left the state.
The officer said that the number of murders was less due to lockdown as people stayed indoors, while the police patrolled the roads. “With people confined at homes, the chances of major dispute reduced. However, disputes with neighbours increased. This led to minor scuffles. The intervention of other neighbours helped prevent major incidents from occurring,” he added.