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.Section 107 of the CrPC allows authorities to act against a person suspected of being likely to breach the peace. The person can be asked to provide a bond — a legal undertaking to maintain peace for a specified period. Section 109 is used when a person is suspected of hiding their presence, and there is a reason to believe they may commit an offence.Section 110 applies to habitual offenders, including those suspected of repeatedly committing crimes such as theft, robbery, or cheating. These provisions are intended to prevent offences rather than punish people for crimes already committed.The figures raise questions about the scale of preventive policing in the city, particularly as the CrPC was replaced by the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS) in July 2024. 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. 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.
