Crime in IndiaA Data Libertarian Project
Murder · Crime in India 2024

27,049 murders registered in 2024. One in three began as a dispute.

Murder FIRs fell for the third year running, from 29,272 in 2021 to 27,049. That is 1.9 per lakh people. The police recorded a dispute as the motive in 9,607 cases: family, land, money, a petty quarrel.1,2

See the statesWhy people were killed

Registered FIRs under section 302, as the National Crime Records Bureau published them. Culpable homicide not amounting to murder is a separate head and is not in this count.

Ten years

Murders, 2015 to 2024, by motive

Each bar is one year’s murder FIRs, read from that year’s own Crime in India volume. The count fell from 32,127 in 2015 to 27,049 in 2024, 15.8% lower. Disputes have been the largest named motive in every year since the Bureau began grouping them in 2017.3–11

Murders registered each year, by the motive the police recorded

Cases. Hover or tab to a bar for its parts.

  • Disputes (family, land, money, petty quarrel, road)
  • Personal vendetta or enmity
  • Love affairs or illicit relationship
  • Gain
  • Other causes, no motive known, and smaller motives
  • Not split: motives grouped differently before 2017
010,00020,00030,00040,000Motives grouped this way from 201732,127201530,450201628,653201729,017201828,918201929,193202029,272202128,522202227,721202327,0492024

Before 2017 the motive table had no “disputes” group and put domestic disputes under “other causes”, so 2015 and 2016 are shown whole. 2015’s own volume is not posted in full; its total is from the 2016 and 2017 volumes. 2019 is the 2019 volume as first printed; later volumes and the Home Ministry’s answers to Parliament use a revised 28,915. Road rage, a separate row until 2019, is counted with disputes in every year, as the Bureau does from 2020. 2024 combines IPC and Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita cases.

The numbers behind each bar
Cases registered. Each year from its own Crime in India volume; see the sources below.
Name
201532,127————
201630,450————
201728,6538,4384,6603,1282,103
201829,0179,6853,8753,2392,995
201928,9189,5473,8333,1722,573
202029,19310,4044,0343,0311,876
202129,2729,7653,7823,1251,692
202228,5229,9623,7612,8211,884
202327,7219,2093,4582,8301,890
202427,0499,6073,6382,8021,460
What the count is made of

Every part over 10%, and the killings counted elsewhere

Inside the 2024 murder count, disputes are the largest motive; the Bureau’s own “other causes” row is next. Outside it, dowry deaths and culpable homicide are each more than a tenth the size of the murder count.11

Murders by motive, 2024

27,049 cases

  • Disputesfamily, land, money, petty quarrel, road9,607 35.5%
  • Personal vendetta or enmity3,638 13.4%
  • Love affairs or illicit relationship2,802 10.4%
  • Gain1,460 5.4%
  • Other causes, no motive known, smaller motives“Other causes” 7,079; no motive known 1,2619,542 35.3%

Deaths recorded under other heads, 2024

Beside the murder count, which they are not part of

  1. Murder27,049
  2. Dowry deaths (s.304B / BNS s.80)5,737
  3. Culpable homicide not amounting to murder3,868
Parts of 10% or more are marked. Shares are of the 27,049 murders registered in 2024; the last two rows are separate heads, shown as a share only to give their size.
PartFigureShare of murder countWhere it is counted
Disputesfamily, property or land, petty quarrel, money, water, road9,60735.5%Inside the headline count
“Other causes” (the Bureau’s own row)7,07926.2%Inside the headline count
Personal vendetta or enmity3,63813.4%Inside the headline count
Love affairs or illicit relationship2,80210.4%Inside the headline count
Gain1,4605.4%Inside the headline count
No motive known1,2614.7%Inside the headline count
Dowry deathsdeaths of married women after dowry harassment; some are suicides5,73721.2%Outside it: a separate head
Culpable homicide not amounting to murder3,86814.3%Outside it: a separate head
The count

Down three years running

The Bureau’s three-year tables, with 2020 from the previous volume. Rate is cases per lakh people, on the population the Bureau projects for that year.1,12

27,049
Murders, 2024
−2.4%on 2023.1
1.9
Per lakh people
2.1 in 2021.
27,831
Victims
20,287 men and boys, 7,535 women and girls, 9 transgender.13
43.8%
Conviction rate
8,627 convictions in 2024. Convictions ÷ trials finished.11
What the murder count leaves out

Murder is one of several ways a killing is recorded. In 2024 the Bureau also counted 3,868 cases of culpable homicide not amounting to murder and 5,737 dowry deaths, deaths of married women after dowry harassment, some of them suicides. Neither is in the murder figure. A murder committed with a rape is counted once, as murder, under the principal-offence rule.11,14

Murder cases registered, 2020 to 2024

Hover a column for the rate.

010,00020,00030,00029,193202029,272202128,522202227,721202327,0492024
Where

The largest count is not the highest rate

Uttar Pradesh registers the most murders, 3,218, at a rate of 1.3 per lakh people, under the national 1.9. The highest rates are in Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, Arunachal Pradesh, Haryana. Manipur, first on rate in 2023 after its count tripled to 151, registered 83 in 2024. The Bureau: “States/UTs may not be compared purely on the basis of crime figures.”15

Murders per lakh people, 2024

Each square is a state or union territory, placed roughly where it lies.

JK0.7LA0.3CH1.8PB2.5HP1.1UK1.8RJ2.0HR3.1DL2.3UP1.3BR2.2SK2.0AR3.2GJ1.3MP2.1CG3.3JH3.7WB1.6ML2.5AS2.6NL0.8DD0.8MH1.7TG2.7OD2.7TR2.8MZ3.0MN2.5GA1.9KA1.8AP1.7AN2.7LD0.0KL0.9TN2.0PY1.6
Per lakh people
  1. 0.0–1.3
  2. 1.3–1.8
  3. 1.8–2.2
  4. 2.2–2.7
  5. 2.7+
JK90LA1CH22PB762HP84UK213RJ1,607HR956DL504UP3,218BR2,787SK14AR50GJ964MP1,813CG1,024JH1,472WB1,624ML84AS933NL17DD11MH2,168TG1,040OD1,258TR116MZ37MN83GA30KA1,228AP898AN11LD0KL338TN1,565PY27
Cases
  1. 0–27
  2. 27–90
  3. 90–933
  4. 933–1,472
  5. 1,472+

Squares are equal in size on purpose. The grid is not a map and draws no borders.

Most murders

Ten states by cases, 2024

  1. Uttar Pradesh3,218
  2. Bihar2,787
  3. Maharashtra2,168
  4. Madhya Pradesh1,813
  5. West Bengal1,624
  6. Rajasthan1,607
  7. Tamil Nadu1,565
  8. Jharkhand1,472
  9. Odisha1,258
  10. Karnataka1,228

Highest rate

Ten states by murders per lakh people, 2024. Union territories left out: a few cases swing their rate.

  1. Jharkhand3.7
  2. Chhattisgarh3.3
  3. Arunachal Pradesh3.2
  4. Haryana3.1
  5. Mizoram3.0
  6. Tripura2.8
  7. Odisha2.7
  8. Telangana2.7
  9. Assam2.6
  10. Manipur2.5
All 36 states and union territories
Rate per lakh people on the Bureau’s 2024 projected population. Chargesheeting rate is chargesheets ÷ cases the police disposed of.
Name
Uttar Pradesh3,2183,2063,4911.381.0
Bihar2,7872,8622,9302.289.7
Maharashtra2,1682,2082,2951.793.4
Madhya Pradesh1,8131,8321,9782.194.9
West Bengal1,6241,6861,6961.685.8
Rajasthan1,6071,8041,8342.060.4
Tamil Nadu1,5651,6811,6902.096.9
Jharkhand1,4721,4631,5503.775.8
Odisha1,2581,3621,3792.771.6
Karnataka1,2281,3221,4041.889.7
Telangana1,0409549372.792.2
Chhattisgarh1,0249581,0133.393.6
Gujarat9649689591.392.8
Haryana9561,0421,0203.175.3
Assam9331,0251,0722.666.6
Andhra Pradesh8989229251.792.9
Punjab7626816702.588.7
Delhi5045065092.390.8
Kerala3383523340.997.6
Uttarakhand2131831871.876.4
Tripura1161011092.886.8
Jammu & Kashmir9084990.765.3
Himachal Pradesh8493851.182.6
Meghalaya8462722.550.0
Manipur83151472.546.8
Arunachal Pradesh5057563.281.5
Mizoram3724313.094.7
Goa3026441.982.4
Puducherry2728301.6100.0
Chandigarh2217181.885.2
Nagaland1719210.840.9
Sikkim141292.084.2
A&N Islands11872.790.0
D&N Haveli and Daman & Diu1120160.893.8
Ladakh1250.3—
Lakshadweep0000.0100.0
Why

Disputes, not strangers

The police record one motive per case. The rows below add up to the 27,049 cases. “Other causes” is the Bureau’s own residual row, and it is large.2

Motive the police recorded, 2024

Twelve largest of twenty rows

  1. Disputes9,607
  2. Other causes7,079
  3. Personal vendetta or enmity3,638
  4. Gain1,460
  5. Love affairs1,391
  6. Illicit relationship1,411
  7. No clue or motive not known1,261
  8. Dowry701
  9. During dacoity or robbery111
  10. Communal or religious37
  11. Witchcraft54
  12. Extremism or insurgency88

Inside “disputes”

9,607 cases, 2024

  1. Family3,088
  2. Property or land2,046
  3. Petty quarrel3,357
  4. Money1,025
  5. Road accident47
  6. Water44

Love affairs (1,391) and illicit relationships (1,411) together outnumber murder for gain. Dowry was the recorded motive in 701 cases. In 1,261 the police recorded no motive at all.2

Victims

Mostly men, mostly aged 18 to 45

27,831 people were murdered in 27,049 cases in 2024. 1,343 were children.13

Victims by sex

2024

  • Male20,287 72.9%
  • Female7,535 27.1%
  • Transgender9 0.0%

Victims by age

2024

02,0004,0006,0008,00010,00012,0001,343Under 189,87018–3010,51530–454,83045–601,27360+
After the FIR

Nine in ten murder trials are still waiting

The 2023 and 2024 volumes print only headline disposal figures for murder, so the parts below are 2022, the latest year with the full breakdown. The 2024 headline figures sit underneath.16,17

Police, 2022

49,220 murder cases for investigation

  • Chargesheet filed25,658 52.1%
  • Closed, transferred or otherwise disposed5,840 11.9%
  • Still under investigation at year end17,722 36.0%

Courts, 2022

2,63,960 murder cases for trial

  • Convicted6,904 2.6%
  • Acquitted8,244 3.1%
  • Discharged, withdrawn or otherwise disposed1,189 0.5%
  • Still pending at year end2,47,623 93.8%
2024, from the volume’s summary

Courts had 2,74,814 murder cases for trial in 2024 and convicted in 8,627: a conviction rate of 43.8%, against 37.7% in 2023 and 43.8% in 2022. Police chargesheeted 22,963 cases, a chargesheeting rate of 84.7%.11,18

Other government records

Deaths in the state’s own custody

Every death in police or judicial custody must be reported to the National Human Rights Commission within 24 hours. The Home Ministry has given Parliament the Commission’s counts. They are not murder figures: most deaths in judicial custody are from illness, and a case is a death reported, not a finding of fault.19–21

Deaths in police custody

NHRC cases, by financial year

0501001502001362018-191122019-201002020-211752021-221642022-23

As reported to the Lok Sabha on 1 August 2023.20

1,940
All custodial deaths, 2020-21
police and judicial custody, NHRC cases.21
2,544
All custodial deaths, 2021-22
police and judicial custody, NHRC cases.21
82
Deaths in police encounters, 2020-21
NHRC cases.21
151
Deaths in police encounters, 2021-22
NHRC cases.21
Two states’ own counts agree

Kerala Police and Karnataka’s State Crime Records Bureau publish their own state-wide murder counts. Every year checked matches the Bureau’s rows for those states exactly.15,22–24

State police murder counts beside NCRB’s rows for the same state.
FigureState policeNCRBGap
Kerala, 2022334334Same
Kerala, 2023352352Same
Karnataka, 20221,4041,404Same
Karnataka, 20231,3221,322Same
Karnataka, 20241,2281,228Same
Cities

Nineteen metropolitan cities

Already inside the state totals. City rates use the 2011 census and cannot be set beside state rates.25

Murders per lakh people, by city, 2024

Rates on the 2011 census population

  1. Patna, Bihar5.2
  2. Nagpur, Maharashtra3.5
  3. Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh3.3
  4. Jaipur, Rajasthan3.2
  5. Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh3.2
  6. Delhi City3.1
  7. Indore, Madhya Pradesh2.9
  8. Surat, Gujarat2.5
  9. Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh2.2
  10. Bengaluru, Karnataka2.1
  11. Pune, Maharashtra1.9
  12. Ahmedabad, Gujarat1.4
  13. Chennai, Tamil Nadu1.2
  14. Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu1.2
  15. Hyderabad, Telangana1.1
  16. Kochi, Kerala0.8
  17. Mumbai, Maharashtra0.6
  18. Kozhikode, Kerala0.5
  19. Kolkata, West Bengal0.4
City table
Rate per lakh people on the 2011 census.
Name
Delhi City5045035013.1
Bengaluru, Karnataka1762061732.1
Surat, Gujarat114891002.5
Mumbai, Maharashtra1071241350.6
Patna, Bihar106911075.2
Chennai, Tamil Nadu1051051011.2
Jaipur, Rajasthan991291323.2
Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh97981313.3
Pune, Maharashtra941011051.9
Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh9397813.2
Ahmedabad, Gujarat901091001.4
Hyderabad, Telangana8994791.1
Nagpur, Maharashtra8879653.5
Indore, Madhya Pradesh6251722.9
Kolkata, West Bengal5743340.4
Ghaziabad, Uttar Pradesh5345612.2
Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu2522311.2
Kochi, Kerala1712160.8
Kozhikode, Kerala11670.5
Sources

Every figure, to its table

Government publications only. Each note links the document; the table number is where the figure is printed.

  1. Crime in India 2024, Volume I — Table 1.2, IPC/BNS Crimes (Crime Head-wise), 2022–2024National Crime Records Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs · accessed 2026-09-27Calendar year. Registered cases, principal-offence rule.
  2. Crime in India 2024, Volume I — Table 2A.2, Motives of MurderNational Crime Records Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs · accessed 2026-09-27Calendar year. Registered cases, principal-offence rule.
  3. Crime in India 2016 — full publication, Tables 1.2, 3A.2 and 3A.11National Crime Records Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs · accessed 2026-09-27Calendar year. Registered cases, principal-offence rule.
  4. Crime in India 2017 — Volume I, Tables 1.2, 3A.2 and 3A.11National Crime Records Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs · accessed 2026-09-27Calendar year. Registered cases, principal-offence rule.
  5. Crime in India 2018 — Volume I, Tables 1.2, 3A.2 and 3A.11National Crime Records Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs · accessed 2026-09-27Calendar year. Registered cases, principal-offence rule.
  6. Crime in India 2019 — Volume I, Tables 1.2, 3A.2 and 3A.11National Crime Records Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs · accessed 2026-09-27Calendar year. Registered cases, principal-offence rule.
  7. Crime in India 2020 — Volume I, Tables 1.2, 3A.2 and 3A.11National Crime Records Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs · accessed 2026-09-27Calendar year. Registered cases, principal-offence rule.
  8. Crime in India 2021 — Volume I, Tables 1.2, 3A.2 and 3A.11National Crime Records Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs · accessed 2026-09-27Calendar year. Registered cases, principal-offence rule.
  9. Crime in India 2022 — Volume I, Tables 1.2, 3A.2 and 3A.11National Crime Records Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs · accessed 2026-09-27Calendar year. Registered cases, principal-offence rule.
  10. Crime in India 2023, Volume I — Table 2A.2, Motives of MurderNational Crime Records Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs · accessed 2026-09-27Calendar year. Registered cases, principal-offence rule.
  11. Crime in India 2024 — Volume I, Tables 1.2, 3A.2 and 3A.11National Crime Records Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs · accessed 2026-09-27Calendar year. Registered cases, principal-offence rule.
  12. Crime in India 2023, Volume I — Table 1.2, IPC Crimes (Crime Head-wise), 2021–2023National Crime Records Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs · accessed 2026-09-27Calendar year. Registered cases, principal-offence rule.
  13. Crime in India 2024, Volume I — Table 2A.3, Victims of Murder (Gender and Age Group-wise)National Crime Records Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs · accessed 2026-09-27Calendar year. Registered cases, principal-offence rule.
  14. Crime in India 2024, Volume I — Limitations and methodology, Principal Offence Rule and population baseNational Crime Records Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs · accessed 2026-09-27Calendar year. Registered cases, principal-offence rule.
  15. Crime in India 2024, Volume I — Table 2A.1, Murder Cases (State/UT-wise), 2022–2024National Crime Records Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs · accessed 2026-09-27Calendar year. Registered cases, principal-offence rule.
  16. Crime in India 2022 — Table 17A.1, Police Disposal of IPC Crime Cases (Crime Head-wise)National Crime Records Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs · accessed 2026-09-27Calendar year. Registered cases, principal-offence rule.
  17. Crime in India 2022 — Table 18A.1, Court Disposal of IPC Crime Cases (Crime Head-wise)National Crime Records Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs · accessed 2026-09-27Calendar year. Registered cases, principal-offence rule.
  18. Crime in India 2023 — Snapshots (States/UTs)National Crime Records Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs · accessed 2026-09-27Calendar year. Registered cases, principal-offence rule.
  19. Selected NHRC guidelines on custodial deaths and rapesNational Human Rights Commission, as posted by the Ministry of Home Affairs · accessed 2026-09-27
  20. Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 2055, Custodial Deaths (1 August 2023)Ministry of Home Affairs · accessed 2026-09-27NHRC cases, by financial year.
  21. Lok Sabha Unstarred Question No. 1459, Custodial Deaths and Fake Encounters (26 July 2022)Ministry of Home Affairs · accessed 2026-09-27NHRC cases, by financial year.
  22. Crime statistics — BNS/IPC cases and crime against women, state-wideKerala Police, Government of Kerala · accessed 2026-09-27Also https://keralapolice.gov.in/crime-statistics/crime-against-woman. Live pages read on 2026-09-27.
  23. Crime in Karnataka – 2024 (21st edition)Karnataka State Police, Police Computer Wing and State Crime Records Bureau, Government of Karnataka · accessed 2026-09-27Year-wise reports 2015–2024 are listed at https://ksp.karnataka.gov.in/new-page/Crime%20in%20Karnataka/en.
  24. Crime in India 2023, Volume I — Table 2A.1, Murder Cases (State/UT-wise), 2021–2023National Crime Records Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs · accessed 2026-09-27Calendar year. Registered cases, principal-offence rule.
  25. Crime in India 2024, Volume I — Table 2B.1, Murder Cases in Metropolitan Cities, 2022–2024National Crime Records Bureau, Ministry of Home Affairs · accessed 2026-09-27Calendar year. Registered cases, principal-offence rule.