Chennai: The Greater Chennai Police (GCP) has detained 1,002 suspects under the Goondas Act in the past one year between July 8, 2024 and July 7 this year as part of its crackdown on habitual offenders. The city police identified repeat offenders involved in property crimes like robbery, theft, and drug cases by way of ambush and cyber crimes and detained them under the Tamil Nadu Prevention of Dangerous Activities of Liquor Smugglers, Drug Offenders, Goons, Immoral Traffic Offenders and Slum Occupiers Act, 1982, commonly called the Goondas Act.
According to zone-wise data, the north zone had the highest number of detentions at 366, followed by the west zone (209) and south zone (200). The east zone had 196 detentions. Other units like the Central Crime Branch (CCB), which plays a key role in identifying cyber and financial criminals, detained 31 persons. The city police said those detained included 26 suspects linked to the murder of Bahujan Samaj Party Tamil Nadu unit president K. Armstrong. Police said the accused in the Armstrong murder case have been in jail for over 10 months. Commissioner A. Arun issued appreciation letters to Goonda Section personnel, including Superintendent Ayyappan, for following due process of law for those detained.
