In 2020 most policemen were martyred in naxal attacks, Kerala topped injury list due to riotous mobs

New Delhi, Sep 16: Left Wing Extremism claimed the maximum lives of police personnel in 2020, the latest report released by the National Crimes Records Bureau shows.

59 police personnel were martyred due to naxalite related incidents, while 36 lost their lives due to terror, the data also shows. The highest number of deaths of police personnel due to naxal related incidents was 55 and all these cases were reported from Chhattisgarh. Maharashtra and Jharkhand reported 3 and 1 such incidents respectively.

Chhattisgarh reported 12 cases of police personnel losing their lives due to a riotous mob. This was followed by Assam and Delhi, which reported 8 and 1 cases respectively.

In terms of terror related deaths of police personnel a total of 36 cases were reported in 2020 and all these were from Jammu and Kashmir, the NCRB data also shows. The data also shows that 9 police personnel lost their lives in border firing in Jammu and Kashmir.

In terms of injuries sustained by police personnel, Kerala at 176 reported by the highest numbers for 2020. Out of the 176 cases, reported, 111 were due to riotous mobs and 65 by criminals and gangsters.

Kerala was followed by Rajasthan with 162 such cases. Of this 139 were by criminals, 20 by riotous mobs and 3 in accidents. Rajasthan was followed byKarnataka with 144 such cases. In Karnataka 58 personnel were injured by riotous mobs, 40 by criminals, 17 due to accidents with self-weapon and 29 in accidents. Jammu and Kashmir reported 137 such cases, followed by 126 in Manipur, 123, Uttar Pradesh, 82 in Chhattisgarh, 79 in West Bengal, 76, Delhi and 65 from Bihar.

The NCRB said that a total of 5,613 cases have been registered in 2020 as compared to 7,656 cases in the year 2019, showing a decrease of 26.7%. Out of 5,613 cases, 80.6% of cases were registered under The Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act (4,524 Cases) followed by 796 (14.2%) cases under The Unlawful Activities Prevention Act.

As compared to 7,62,319 Kgs of Explosives recovered in 2019, a total of 68,312 Kgs Explosives (RDX, TNT, Plastic Explosives, Gun Powder, Pyrotechnic/Fireworks etc.) have been seized during 2020. This comprises of seizures from Anti-national Elements (627 Kgs) and seizures from Other Criminals including smugglers (67,685 Kgs).

A total of 4,437 cases of offences against public tranquillity were registered under various sections of IPC during 2020, out of which rioting cases (2,264) accounting for 51.0% of total such cases. The cases of offences registered against public tranquillity have increased by 14.0% in 2020 over 2019 (3,893 cases).