Road accidents, not terrorists, kill most paramilitary troops: NCRB

NEW DELHI: Over four times more paramilitary personnel die in road accidents than fighting terrorists or Maoists. New National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data show that of 1,232 central armed police force (CAPF) deaths in 2014, 32 per cent were due to road accidents while only 7 per cent were due to operations against terrorists. As many 175 committed suicide while 12 died in fratricide.

According to the data, 32.1 per cent, 8.4 per cent and 7.2 per cent casualties in CAPFs were due to 'Road/Railways Accidents', 'Natural Calamities' and 'Killed in Action/ Operation/Encounter/etc.' respectively.

This is the first time government has specifically collected data on deaths of paramilitary personnel and assigned them various causes. The forces include BSF, CRPF, SSB, NSG, ITBP, CISF and Assam Rifles which have a cumulative strength of 9.27 lakh.


There have been force-specific studies done earlier but never a comprehensive one. For example, in 2014 Home Ministry put out data that showed more CRPF men died due to diseases than fighting Maoists.

According to that data, in 2014, while 50 CRPF men died in Maoist attacks, 95 died due to various diseases. Of these 27 fell to malaria, while 35 died due to heart attack. Most paramilitary personnel die din road/rail accidents in Telangana.

With 111 of 194 deaths in the state belonging to this category, it makes up for 66.7 per cent of all CAPF deaths in the state. There are three other states that have more than 50 per cent CAPF deaths due to road/rail accidents. These include Jammu & Kashmir (27 out of 43), Arunachal Pradesh (17 out of 24), and West Bengal (5 out of 8). Interestingly, there is not a single operation-related death in Jammu and Kashmir, indicating increased normalcy.

The data, however, put maximum CAPF deaths in the undefined "unnatural deaths" category. Excluding road/rail accidents, this accounts for 51.3 per cent of total CAPF deaths due to causes other than natural death.

Not surprisingly, Chhattisgarh which has seen the worst of Maoist violence over the years, has recorded maximum casualties in operations. Chhattisgarh accounted for 31 out of 89 deaths in operations. Curiously Uttar Pradesh, which has been comparatively much quieter as far as Maoist violence is concerned and does not share borders with any hostile country, comes a close second accounting 30 operational deaths. They together make up for over 68 per cent deaths in operations.

Jammu & Kashmir has accounted for 66.7 per cent of total fratricide incidents (8 out of 12), pointing at some level stressful conditions in which jawans function there. Busting the myth that most CAPF personnel commit suicide due to stress in profession, the data show that only 8.6 per cent ended their lives due to 'service-related issues'. As many as 25.7 per cent of total victims in CAPFs have committed suicides due to 'marriage related issues' while 10.3 per cent have ended their lives due to 'family problems'. Notably, however, 8.6 per cent of suicides in CAPFs were due to 'mental depression'.