UP, Maha top in police custody deaths: Govt

In 2005-06 and 2004-05, the country had registered 139 and 136 custodial deaths respectively.

Thirty-two people lost their lives in police custody in Uttar Pradesh during last fiscal, which showed a three-fold increase in such incidents in country’s largest state from 2006-07.

Eleven people died in 2006-07 in UP while the figures for the two previous fiscals were 18 and seven.

Maharashtra, which figured second in the list, had 25 custodial deaths in 2007-08 compared to 21, 20, and 23 in the previous fiscals in descending order.

Gujarat was third in the list with 16 custodial deaths followed by Assam (14) and Madhya Pradesh (10).

Six cases of custodial deaths were reported from the national capital.

States of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Goa, Mizoram, Nagaland and union territories of Pondicherry, Andaman and Nicobar, Dadar and Nagar Haveli, Lakshadweep and Daman and Diu “had not a single” custodial death.

Interestingly, no such incidents were reported from Manipur, Mizoram, Nagaland, Andaman and Nicobar, Dadar and Nagar Haveli, Lakshadweep and Daman and Diu from 2004-05 till date.