Naxalites have killed 3,749 civilians in nine years across ten states with maximum casualties reported from Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand. That means, the left-wing extremists have killed more than one civilian per day on an average. This despite the fact that the rate of left-wing extremism (LWE) declined by 26.7% in 2018.
In the annual report published by the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA), 10,660 incidents of violence took place in 10 Naxal-hit states, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Odisha, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh which claimed lives of 3,749 people. In other words, that would mean Naxalites killed more than 1 civilian a day or 417 people every year.
The MHA report further reveals that the banned outfit CPI(Maoist) continues to be the most ‘potent’ amongst all LWE outfits which has been responsible for 88% of total deaths and violence.
In Chhattisgarh, the total casualties reported from 2010 to 2019 is 1,370 while 997 people were killed in left-wing violence in Jharkhand. In Bihar, 387 people lost their lives in similar incidents in past nine years.
The report further states that in last five years, the violence has seen sharp decline along with reduction in geographical area hit by such violence. The LWE violence came down from 1136 incidents in 2013 to 883 in 2018, a reduction of 26.7%. There has also been a reduction of 39.5% in deaths due to LWE violence from 397 in 2013 to 240 in 2018.
Read: Naxal insurgency: Fighting extremism with development
The deaths of security personnel have also come down in these states. From 75 deaths in 2013, there has been a 10.7% reduction to death of 67 personnel in 2018. There has also been an increase in elimination of number of LWE cadres.
The MHA report further states that he geographical area of the LWE violence has shrunk. In 2013, violence was reported in 330 police stations across 76 districts in 10 states. This has come down to 251 police stations in 60 districts in 10 states.
