Year 2022: At 73, NIA registered highest number of cases since inception in 2009

New Delhi, Dec 31: India's premier agency probing terrorism, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in 2022 registered 73 cases.

This is an increase of 19.67 per cent when compared to 2021 where the NIA registered 61 cases. This is the highest number of case registered by the NIA since its inception following the Mumbai 26/11 attack.

These cases include 35 related to Jihadi terror in the various such as Jammu and Kashmir, Assam, Bihar, Delhi, Kerala and Madhya Pradesh.

The National Investigation Agency has been probing scores of cases. One of the biggest operations that the NIA took over this year was the raids on the Popular Front of India (PFI) following which the outfit was banned. During the three different raids conducted since September, the NIA has raided nearly 200 locations and arrested over a 100 persons associated with the PFI.

The NIA was set up in 2009 following the Mumbai 26/11 attacks.In the year 2019 the government amended Schedule 6 of the Unlawful Prevention (Activities) Act following which the NIA is able designate an individual as a terrorist. Prior to this only organisations were designated as terrorist organisations.

As of August 2022, the conviction rate of the NIA stood at 93.25 per cent which is the highest for any central agency. In all the the agency has apprehended nearly 3,000 persons and among those 391 were convicted as per data available until August 2022.

Speaking at the NIA Raising Day in April, Union Home Minister, Amit Shah said that in a span of 13 years, the agency has performed exceptionally. He said that under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision for a terror-free India, the NIA and the UAPA were amended to strengthen the agency.

One of the key successes that the NIA was able to achieve is in Jammu and Kashmir (J&K). It has literally wiped out separatism in the Union Territory since the abrogation of Article 370 in 2019. The NIA targeted the funding routes as a result of which the separatists lost interest in their so-called cause.