New Delhi: In the first 74 days of this year, 170 custodial deaths have been reported across the country. The Union government on Tuesday disclosed the details of the lockup death cases registered from January 1 to March 15, 2026 to Parliament. The Union Home Ministry has shared the state-wise statistics received by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). Bihar has topped the list with the highest number of custodial deaths so far this year with 19. Rajasthan is second with 18 lockup death cases and Uttar Pradesh is third with 15 cases. Punjab, Gujarat and Maharashtra have reported 14 custodial death cases each.
Meanwhile, in the first 74 days of this year, 9 cases of custodial deaths were reported in Odisha and 7 in West Bengal. 5 cases were recorded in the northeastern states of Assam and 3 in Arunachal Pradesh. 4 cases were reported in the national capital Delhi, and one case each in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Puducherry. However, no case of custodial death has been reported in Jammu and Kashmir so far.
Among the southern states, Tamil Nadu tops the list with 7 lockup death cases. Telangana has 5 cases, and Karnataka and Kerala have 3 cases each.
Meanwhile, statistics show that custodial deaths have been decreasing in the last five years. 176 cases of lockup deaths were registered in 2021-22, 163 in 2022-23, 157 in 2023-24, and 140 in 2024-25. However, it is worrying that 170 custodial deaths were registered across the country in just 74 days from January 1 to March 15, 2026.
