Ahmedabad: Death of a rape and murder accused in police firing in Anand after he allegedly attacked officers during investigation, has once again brought Gujarat’s growing use of firearms in policing under scrutiny.Official records show that between May 2025 and July 2026, Gujarat Police opened fire in 18 separate incidents. While two encounters ended in the death of the accused, the remaining 16 resulted in injuries, predominantly gunshot wounds to the leg.The latest case involved Suresh Parmar, accused of raping and murdering a four-year-old girl in Anand. Police said he attacked officers with a knife while being taken for investigation, prompting retaliatory firing.
police shootings
Earlier, on Sep 24, 2025, a murder and rape accused Vipul Parmar was killed in Gandhinagar after he allegedly snatched a service revolver and opened fire on cops during crime scene reconstruction.A closer look at the data reveals a noticeable spike in Dec 2025, when six police firing incidents were reported. The cases ranged from rape and murder investigations to prohibition-related offences, with police consistently claiming the accused either attacked officers, resisted arrest or attempted to flee.Most of the firing incidents occurred during crime scene reconstruction, recovery of weapons or evidence, arrest operations and efforts to prevent suspects from escaping custody. Three incidents involved the State Monitoring Cell, while two were linked to crowd-control situations rather than individual criminal investigations.Despite the varied nature of the cases, the official explanation remained largely unchanged: police maintained that firearms were used only as a last resort after accused allegedly posed an immediate threat by attacking personnel with knives or guns, attempting to snatch service weapons or trying to escape from lawful custody.
