List of people executed in India
Updated: 10/31/2025, 9:57:33 PM Wikipedia source
The number of people executed in India since independence in 1947 is a matter of dispute; official government statistics claim that only 57 people had been executed since independence. However, available information from other sources indicates that the official government figures are false, and the actual number of executions in India may run to several thousand. Research by the People's Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR) has located government records of 1,422 executions in 16 states in the decade from 1953 to 1963 alone. PUDR located this information in an appendix of the 35th report of the Fourth Law Commission in 1967. In 2015, the National Law University Delhi compiled a list of persons executed in India since 1947 and found that at least 752 individuals had been executed, including the period from 1 January to 15 August 1947. Their report was compiled "as per responses received from Central prisons in India. Certain prisons have either provided information only for a limited period or refused to provide any information or did not have any records available." Therefore, the actual number of persons would be much more than 752. While information about the number of executions should be available with individual prison departments within each state, the government has been reluctant to share such information. For example, authorities in Kerala claimed that all records of executions had been destroyed by termites. Andhra Pradesh gave the same reason for not furnishing post-1968 records. Bihar claimed that the state did not maintain records of executions, while Tamil Nadu's Additional Director General of Police (Prisons) refused to provide any records at all. According to Alexander Jacob, Additional Director General of Police (Prisons) of Kerala, "nearly 50 people had been executed in Kerala in the post-Independence period". Rasha alias Raghuraj Singh, executed on 9 September 1947 at Jabalpur Central Jail, is presumed to be the first person executed in independent India. Akshay Thakur, Mukesh Singh, Pawan Gupta and Vinay Sharma, who were hanged on 20 March 2020, were the last persons to be executed in India. Rattan Bai Jain, executed on 3 January 1955 at Tihar Jail, is presumed to be the first and only woman executed in independent India.
Tables
| No. | Name | Date | Age(at execution) | Age(at offence) | Location | State | Capital offence(s) | Notes | Source |
| 1 | Raghuraj Singh | 9 September 1947 | 27 | Jabalpur Central Jail | Central Provinces and Berar | Murder | |||
| 2 | Mahantappa Gangappa | 30 December 1947 | 30 | Belgaum Central Jail | Bombay State | ||||
| 3 | Singavarapu Mahalakshmudu | 3 April 1948 | 32 | Rajahmundry Central Prison | Madras Presidency | ||||
| 4 | Bhavana Venkadu | 13 April 1948 | 40 | Rajahmundry Central Prison | Madras Presidency | ||||
| 5 | Kancharagunta Subbaiah | 24 April 1948 | 28 | Rajahmundry Central Prison | Madras Presidency | ||||
| 6 | Kalidindi Venkata Narasimha Raju | 17 May 1948 | 24 | Rajahmundry Central Prison | Madras Presidency | ||||
| 7 | Basapppa Gundappa Hadignal | 31 July 1948 | 35 | Belgaum Central Jail | Bombay State | ||||
| 8 | Uppara Bala Obigan Subanna | 13 July 1949 | 60 | Rajahmundry Central Prison | Madras Presidency | ||||
| 9 | Chenchu China Rami Reddy | 35 | |||||||
| 10 | Chenchu Peda Rami Reddy | 48 | |||||||
| 11 | Jamula Lakshmi Reddy | 33 | |||||||
| 12 | Poreddypedda Thippa Reddy | 25 | |||||||
| 13 | Uppara Chinna Pullappa | 35 | |||||||
| 14 | Jonada Musalaiah | 10 October 1949 | 24 | Rajahmundry Central Prison | Madras Presidency | ||||
| 15 | Hanmanth Bhimappa Bhaskari | 17 October 1949 | 35 | Belgaum Central Jail | Bombay State | ||||
| 16 | Nathuram Godse | 15 November 1949 | 39 | 37 | Ambala Central Jail | East Punjab | Murder | Assassination of Mahatma Gandhi | |
| 17 | Narayan Dattatraya Apte | 39 | 37 | Conspiracy to murder | |||||
| 18 | Adyayya Parappa Ramgouda | 16 January 1950 | 35 | Belgaum Central Jail | Bombay State | ||||
| 19 | Sanna Hanamappa Yamanappa Gadgi | 20 February 1951 | 55 | Belgaum Central Jail | Bombay State | ||||
| 20 | Vithoba Krishna Thorat | 8 February 1951 | 62 | Belgaum Central Jail | Bombay State | ||||
| 21 | Roshonlal | 20 October 1951 | NA | NA | Alipore Jail | West Bengal | Murder | Murders of Moni Sharma and Bela Sharma | |
| 22 | Sidappa Basavaneppa Shiddanavar | 17 December 1951 | 25 | Belgaum Central Jail | Bombay State | ||||
| 22 | Shyama Charan Shukla/Sukul | 21 June 1952 | — | — | Alipore Central Jail | West Bengal | First person executed in West Bengal | ||
| 23 | Dyayappa Adivappa Dadi | 22 August 1953 | 28 | Belgaum Central Jail | Bombay State | ||||
| 24 | Rattan Bai Jain | 3 January 1955 | 35 | Tihar Jail | New Delhi | Murder of 3 girls | First woman executed in independent India | ||
| 25 | Ram Chariter Show | 7 January 1955 | — | — | Presidency Correctional Home | West Bengal | |||
| 26 | Shivarudrappa Virbhadrappa Bhandigani | 15 December 1955 | 21 | Belgaum Central Jail | Bombay State | ||||
| 27 | Hanmanth Bhimappa Sullanavar | 19 December 1955 | 40 | Belgaum Central Jail | Bombay State | ||||
| 28 | Yallappa Nilappa Annigeri | 30 December 1955 | 35 | Belgaum Central Jail | Bombay State | ||||
| 29 | Birendra Nath Dutta | 28 January 1956 | — | — | Alipore Central Jail | West Bengal | |||
| 30 | Tippanna Ningappa Agsar | 16 May 1956 | 50 | Belgaum Central Jail | Bombay State | ||||
| 38 | Pandurang Tatyasaheb Shinde | 18 June 1956 | 40 | Belgaum Central Jail | Bombay State | ||||
| 32 | Sadashiv Satteppa Khanchanale | 9 July 1956 | 27 | Belgaum Central Jail | Bombay State | ||||
| 33 | Bhimappa Shivarayappa Nandi | 31 July 1956 | 39 | Belgaum Central Jail | Bombay State | ||||
| 34 | Yallappa Somappa Nandi | 19 | |||||||
| 35 | Parasappa Somappa Nandi | 28 | |||||||
| 36 | Dundappa Basappa Bhadrashetti | 11 September 1956 | 32 | Belgaum Central Jail | Bombay State | ||||
| 37 | Gopal Chandra Ghosh | 8 February 1957 | — | — | Presidency Correctional Home | West Bengal | |||
| 38 | Shew Prasad alias Lall | 20 December 1957 | — | — | Presidency Correctional Home | West Bengal | |||
| 39 | Shamsher Sheikh | 10 May 1958 | — | — | Alipore Central Jail | West Bengal | |||
| 40 | Sher Mohammad | — | — | ||||||
| 41 | Abdul Khaleque | 12 May 1958 | — | — | Presidency Correctional Home | West Bengal | |||
| 42 | Asgar Ali alias Ashu | — | — | ||||||
| 43 | Gura Sahu/Guna Show | 29 May 1958 | — | — | Alipore Central Jail | West Bengal | |||
| 44 | Bachan Singh | 23 June 1958 | — | — | Tihar Jail, New Delhi | Delhi | |||
| 45 | Ajit Bose | 9 August 1958 | — | — | Presidency Correctional Home | West Bengal | |||
| 46 | Dhanamath Guru alias Badis | 18 August 1958 | 47 | Berhampore Circle Jail | Orissa | ||||
| 47 | Fakir Ahamed | 8 November 1958 | — | — | Presidency Correctional Home | West Bengal | |||
| 48 | Bipin Bihari Sarkar | 24 January 1959 | — | — | Presidency Correctional Home | West Bengal |
References
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