Maoist Violence Down By 70%, Infiltration And Terrorist Attacks In J&K Too Decreased: Govt

Maoist violence cases have come down to 665 in 2020 from an all-time high of 2,258 incidents in 2009, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai informed Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.

New Delhi: Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Nityanand Rai informed Rajya Sabha on Wednesday that incidents of Maoist violence in the country had declined by 70 per cent. Maoist violence cases have come down to 665 in 2020 from an all-time high of 2,258 incidents in 2009, ANI reported.

"The LWEs (Left-Wing Extremists) indulge in opportunistic attacks on Security Forces (SFs) and also target civilian population and public property. However, the incidents of LWE violence have come down by 70 per cent from the all-time high of 2,258 incidents in 2009 to 665 in 2020," Nityanand Rai said in a written reply in Rajya Sabha.

The response came on a question by BJP MP Vijay Pal Singh Tomar about Maoist violence in India. When asked if the reduction in cases of Maoist violence had led to a decline in deaths, Nityanand Rai said, "Similarly, the resultant deaths of civilians and Security Forces, both have declined by 80 per cent from an all-time high of 1005 in 2010 to 183 in 2020."

"Geographical spread of the violence has constricted and only 53 districts across nine States reported LWE related violence as compared to 76 districts across 10 States in 2013. The declining trend in incidents of LWE violence and its geographical spread continues in 2021," the MoS further said.

The MoS also said that incidents of infiltration and terrorist attacks had decreased significantly in Jammu and Kashmir since 2018. Rai was replying to a question by Congress leader Anand Sharma who asked if "there is a rise in incidents of infiltration and terrorist attacks in Jammu and Kashmir" and the "number of terror attacks during October 2020-October 2021".

The minister said up to October 31 this year, 28 incidents of infiltration were reported from J&K. He said 51 incidents were reported in 2020, 141 in 2017 and 143 in 2019. The MoS informed Parliament that up to November 21 this year, 200 terror incidents were reported. "This was 244 in 2020, 255 in 2019 and 417 in 2018," he said.

Regarding terrorist incidents, the MoS informed that upto November 21 this year, 200 incidents of terrorism were reported which was 244 in 2020, 255 in 2019 and 417 in 2018.