Thiruvananthapuram: Over 13,000 goondas have been arrested across Kerala between December 18 last year to January 9, 2022, the state police said on Tuesday.
The arrests are the result of a state-wide crackdown by the police on anti-social elements, a release by the State Police Media Centre said.
The state-wide crackdown has come in the wake of several instances of violent killings in Kerala, including the back to back murders of an SDPI and a BJP leader in Alappuzha within hours of each other in early December last year.
In the wake of the killings, State Police Chief Anil Kant had ordered strict action against anti-social elements in Kerala.
So far, 13,032 goondas have been arrested in the state-wide raids at 16,680 locations and 5,987 mobile phones have been seized, the release said.
Besides that, cases have been registered against 215 persons under the Kerala Anti Social Activities (Prevention) Act, 2007, it said and added that steps were also taken to cancel the bail of 61 persons who had violated the bail conditions.
The highest number was arrested in Thiruvananthapuram Rural (1,506) followed by Alappuzha (1,322), Kollam City (1,054), Palakkad (1,023) and Kasaragod (1,020), the release said.
The highest number of mobile phones seized was also from Thiruvananthapuram Rural with 1,103, it said