Manipur, Chhattisgarh And J&K Report Maximum Civilian Casualties In Police Operations: NCRB

New Delhi: The majority of civilian casualties during police operations has been reported from Manipur, Chhattisgarh and Jammu & Kashmir as the latest edition of the National Crime Record Bureau (NCRB) revealed that as many as 24 civilians were killed in police firing and six in lathi charge in Manipur in 2023, whereas five civilians were killed in police firing and five in bomb blasts in J&K during the same period.

However, the maximum casualty of police personnel was reported from Chhattisgarh, where 26 were killed by left-wing extremists in 2023. NCRB data shows a total of 318 personnel were martyred in 2023, with Maharashtra registering the maximum casualties of 44, followed by 36 in Tamil Nadu (35 in accidents and one in riots) and 33 in Rajasthan (32 in accidents and one by criminal gangs).

"States like Manipur, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand and a few others are fighting the menace of insurgency and left-wing extremism. So, civilian casualties do take place in these States. However, law-enforcing agencies always adopt maximum precautions to avert such casualties," said Prakash Singh, former UP DGP and a renowned security expert.

On many occasions, security agencies take civilian drivers for anti-insurgency operations. "As we have seen the violence in Manipur that was triggered since May 2023, the maximum number of civilian casualties took place during that period. And the NCRB data that was compiled from state reports also highlighted the casualties that took place during that period," Singh said.

As per NCRB data, 67 civilians casualties took place during 2023 with Manipur reporting the maximum 30 (24 in firing and six in lathicharge) followed by 10 in Jammu & Kashmir (five ecah in firing and explosion) and six civilian casualties took place in Bihar (twp each in police firing and other accidents, one killed by robbers and one in police operations).

A total of 1,271 police personnel were also injured in different incidents across the country in 2023, with Kerala registering the maximum of 264 injuries (135 by riotous mobs and 127 criminals), followed by 232 in Odisha (by criminals/gangsters/ dacoits) and Tamil Nadu 148 (33 by criminals /gangsters/ dacoits and 115 in accidents).

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