137 people killed in Naxal violence this year: Report

NEW DELHI: A total of 137 people have been killed in 461 incidents of Naxal violence this year, the government said today.

The maximum number of causalities have been reported in Jharkhand (68), followed by Chhattisgarh (22), Maharashtra (20), Odisha (16), Bihar (10) and Andhra Pradesh (1), till April 15 this year.

"The number of incidents of (naxal-related) violence have declined, whereas the number of consequential deaths have remained almost at par compared to the corresponding period of 2011," Minister of State for Home Jitendra Singh told Lok Sabha in a written reply.

During the same period in 2011, Maoist violence had claimed 136 lives.

A total of 461 incidents of Naxal violence, as compared to 538 in 2011, were reported during the same period in the nine naxal-affected states which also include Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and West Bengal.

Singh, in a separate reply, said that a total of 75 battalions (about 75,000 personnel) of central security forces have been deployed in these states in this regard.

"During last six months (from November 2011 to April 15 this year, 74 number of security forces have been killed by CPI (Maoist) in the country, out of which 14 have been killed in Maharashtra," Singh said.