Ahmedabad: City police took 29,201 people into preventive custody in the first nine months of 2026, averaging one detention every 13 minutes. The figures, which include action under three preventive provisions of the law, work out to around 107 people a day.
Police records show that 26,098 people were taken into preventive custody under Section 107 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) between Jan 1 and Sept 30. Another 54 people were detained under Section 109, while 3,049 were taken into custody under Section 110 during the same period.
Preventive action was taken to ensure that these did not lead to a breach of peace,” a senior police officer said. Apart from protests, police drives aimed at preventing crime also contributed to the figures, officers said. Police records, however, continue to refer to the old provisions. Senior police officers attributed the high number of preventive actions to a range of public protests and agitations across the city. These included demonstrations against price rise and decisions of Union govt, protests over the NEET paper leak, civic body poll-related activities, and various student agitations. “Several protests and agitations took place in the city during the period.