NCRB 2024 data shows Delhi recorded the highest metro murders linked to love affairs and illicit relationships among major Indian cities. Disputes, vendetta, and financial motives dominated killings nationwide, with a slight overall decline in murder cases
Published Date – 7 May 2026, 08:09 PM
New Delhi: Delhi recorded the highest number of murders linked to illicit relationships and love affairs among metropolitan cities, according to the latest figures of NCRB. The city recorded 11 murders committed out of ‘love affairs’ and 30 killings over ‘illicit relationships’, according to the report released on Wednesday.
The National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) report for 2024 showed that Bengaluru ranked the second highest among the 19 metros with a population over 2 million, recording 11 murders linked to love affairs and 19 related to illicit relationships after Delhi.
Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chennai reported comparatively fewer murders under the two categories.
In Delhi, disputes related to families, property and money were the prime motives in most of the murder cases. A total of 313 murders were reported under the ‘disputes’ category, including 228 due to ‘petty reasons’, followed by ‘money’ (40) and ‘property’ (30).
The national capital also topped the number of murders for various categories, including ‘disputes’ and ‘dacoity’ as motives. Eighty-seven people were murdered by dacoits in Delhi in 2024, according to the report.
Nagpur reported 16 murders linked to money disputes, the second highest among metropolitan cities.
Delhi also topped the list in murders driven by ‘personal vendetta or enmity’, with 81 such cases. Surat saw the second highest number of 49 murders due to enmity, followed by Bengaluru (41), Ahmedabad (31), Patna and Pune, 25 each.
The motive behind 19 murders in Delhi was unknown, while Patna topped with the highest number of 51 blind murders, according to the data. According to the NCRB, 27,049 murder cases were registered across the country in 2024, showing a marginal decline of 2.4 per cent from 27,721 cases in 2023.
‘Disputes’ at 9,607 cases remained the leading motive behind murders nationally with 9,607 cases during 2024, followed by ‘Personal Vendetta or Enmity’ and ‘Gain’ with 3,638 and 1,460 cases, the report stated.
