MHA data shows major dip in Maoist violence across country

Incidents of Maoist violence in the country remained below 1,000-mark for the third consecutive year in 2019 with the figures falling below 700 for the first time since the surge in naxal incidents in 2010.

Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand continue to account for 69.10% or 463 of the 670 incidents of naxal violence across the country in 2019, as against 833 in 2018 and 908 in 2017. There were 1,048 incidents in 2016.

The statistics placed by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) in Lok Sabha on Tuesday further showed that the number of civilians and security personnel killed also have come down.

Of the 670 incidents of Maoist violence, Chhattigarh accounted for 263 incidents, followed by Jharkhand (200) and Maharashtra (66). In 2018, Chhattisgarh had 392, Jharkhand 205 and Maharashtra 75 incidents.

The civilian deaths have also come down during the years with 2019 reporting 150 casualties as against 173 in 2018 and 188 in 2017.

Similarly, security personnel's losing their lives in action also has come down -- from 75 in 2017 and 52 in 2018 to 145 last year. According to the MHA figures, 145 Maoists were killed besides arresting 1,276.

Officials attribute the decline to effectively countering the naxal operations through security and development measures.

Earlier, a background paper prepared by the MHA had acknowledged that extremists had fine-tuned their Tactical Counter Offensive Campaign (TCOC) "quite well" after suffering setbacks in 2016. The naxals have managed to perpetrate "some major incidents" by resorting to ambushes and IED attacks "taking the forces by surprise," it had then said.

It had then said the Maoists were trying to deflect the attention of forces away from Dandakaranya region, the naxal hot-bed, by stepping up activities at the Chhattisgarh-Madhya Pradesh-Maharashtra tri-junction.

Year	2010	2015	2016	2017	2018	2019
Incidents	2,213	1,089	1,048	908	833	670
Civilians Killed	720	171	213	188	173	150
Security Personnel Killed	285	59	65	75	67	52
Maoists killed	172	89	222	136	225	145

During a meeting with Chief Ministers of naxal-infested states, Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Monday had called for "synergy" between the Centre and states to effectively tackle the naxal menace .

He had said states play a key role in maintaining law and order and "a synergy between the centre and states can effectively address the issue" of naxal menace. "Though incidents of LWE violence have come down, focus needs to be kept to eliminate it completely and all efforts need to be maintained by Centre and states in full pace," he said.