Country saw 72 communal incidents in January alone

Maharashtra tops the list with 21 followed by Bihar and Karnataka, Lok Sabha toldNew Delhi: The country witnessed 72 communal incidents in January thi

The country witnessed 72 communal incidents in January this year, with Maharashtra topping the list by recording 21 of them—almost one-third of the total.

Poll-bound Bihar, which reported 61 incidents in the whole of 2014, reported 12 such incidents in just January. Karnataka was in the third position with 10 incidents.

The latest Home Ministry figures also showed that 11 people were killed and 218 injured in January across the country in such incidents.

This was disclosed in the Lok Sabha on Tuesday in a written reply by Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju.

He also said the activities of organisations having a bearing on communal harmony are “under constant watch” of law enforcement agencies.

According to statistics, no one was killed in Maharashtra, despite 49 people suffering injuries in communal incidents. Though the number of incidents was relatively less in Bihar, it had the highest number of killings and injuries—five and 72, respectively— due to communal incidents in January.

 Karnataka recorded 48 people suffering injuries, but no death.

Uttar Pradesh, which has topped the list in the past three years, reported only eight incidents in January. Gujarat saw four people losing lives and 24 suffering injuries in communal incidents According to statistics, 2013 witnessed 823 incidents—the highest number in the past three years. In 2012, the country reported 668 incidents and last year, it was 644.

Last year, the majority of the incidents took place in Uttar Pradesh (133) followed by Maharashtra (97), Gujarat (74), Karnataka (73), Rajasthan (72), Bihar (61) and Madhya Pradesh (56).