'Jail or jahannum' for terrorists under Modi govt: Minister Nityanand Rai in Rajya Sabha

New Delhi: There has been a 71 per cent reduction in incidents of terror in the country under the Modi government and terrorists will now either go to jail or "jahannum" (hell), Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai said in the Rajya Sabha on Wednesday.

Replying to queries from members during Question Hour, the minister said unlike in the past when terrorists were glorified and served "good food", the Modi government has a '"zero tolerance" policy towards terrorism that has helped bring down the cases of terror to zero in the hinterland.

He listed several steps being taken to deal with cases of terror and claimed that after an amendment in the Act governing the National Investigative Agency, it is now investigating cases on foreign land including attacks on the Indian High Commissions in London and Ottawa and the consulate in San Francisco.

"Earlier, terrorists were glorified and they were served good food. Today, the Modi government is working with the policy of zero tolerance towards terrorism, which has resulted in no terror incidents in the hinterland. There has been a 71 per cent decline in terror activities in the country.

"This is the Modi government which will work with a firm determination to end terrorism. Terrorists will either go to jail or to 'jahannum' (hell)," Rai told the members.

The minister also dismissed complaints against the NIA, terming them baseless.

"I do not agree with the charge that there are complaints against NIA. If at all there are complaints, these are concocted and baseless made by such people who are having problems with stern action being taken against terrorists," he said after CPI MP Sandosh Kumar raised the issue of alleged complaints against the federal agency.

The Minister of State for Home informed the members that the NIA has also spoken to some illegal immigrants who were deported by the United States and cases of human trafficking have also come out and serious investigation is being carried out in such cases after registration of FIRs.

On terror-related cases, he said special courts have been set up in Jammu and Ranchi, and 23 such courts are elsewhere in the country that exclusively deal with such matters.

On the number of undertrials and convicts charged under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act or other terror cases, the minister said, "So far 157 cases have been decided by courts, which is 95.544 per cent of total cases. In cases of terror financing, there is 100 per cent success."

Rai also took a dig at Congress member Digvijaya Singh who raised the issue of bomb blast cases since 2011 which are still pending.

"The incidents referred by the member, it is important to mention the timeline of such incidents which was during their tenure.

"There are zero incidents taking place now in the hinterland," he asserted.

"The Modi government adopts the policy of zero tolerance against terrorism and work is seriously being carried out and the government is working to deal with terrorism sternly which has helped reduce cases of terror.

He said that 57 individuals have also been "declared terrorists and since 2014 as many as nine organisations have been designated as terror organisations under the UAPA".

So far, 23 organisations have been named as unlawful, he informed the house.

Nityanand Rai said that during investigation in some cases where the accused had their presence outside the boundaries of India, the need to amend the NIA Act in 2019 was felt and the same was done to deal with cases of terror and use of cyber technology.

Agencies were given powers to investigate outside the country in cases related to terror and human trafficking, he said.

"After the 2019 amendment, the NIA is currently investigating six cases including attacks on India High Commissions in London and Ottawa and the Indian consulate in San Francisco, where terror activities were given final shape on foreign land.

"Similarly, 23 cases of human trafficking and 30 bomb attacks and one case of cyber crimes are being investigated, which is helping in curbing terror activities," the minister informed the house.

In his written reply to a starred question, Rai listed out several achievements of the NIA.

"As on 12.03.2025, the NIA has registered 652 cases since its inception and 516 cases have been charge-sheeted; 4232 accused have been arrested so far by the NIA and 625 have been convicted.

"Out of a total of 157 decided cases, 150 have resulted in conviction. The conviction rate of the NIA investigated cases is 95.54 per cent. The NIA has seized/attached a total of 551 (movable and immovable) properties under UA(P) Act, worth 116.27 crore rupees," the minister said.