Manipur has the dubious distinction of having the maximum number of insurgency-related incidents among all the Northeastern States in 2017, according to a written reply by Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju in the Parliament.
The written reply made available here, said, as many as 167 insurgency-related cases were reported in Manipur in 2017, followed by Arunachal Pradesh (61), Assam (33), Meghalaya (28) and Nagaland (19). Mizoram and Tripura recorded no such incidents.
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The Union Minister made his reply in the Parliament recently in response to a question from Manipur Lok Sabha MP Dr Thokchom Meinya.
The State also claimed the maximum number of casualties during the period. Civilians (23) accounted for the highest number and security forces (8) casualties in 2017.
Manipur was followed by Assam (civilian-6, security force- 3), Nagaland (civilian-3, security force-1), Arunachal Pradesh (civilian-3), Meghalaya (civilian-2). There was no report of such casualty in Mizoram and Tripura.
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Otherwise, the security situation in the Northeastern States has improved substantially in 2017 with insurgency incidents declining by 63 per cent as compared to 2014, according to Union Home Ministry data.
It said the number of insurgency related incidents in the region decreased by 36 per cent compared to 2016 as the year 2017 witnessed the lowest number of insurgency related incidents since 1997. There were 824 insurgency related incidents in 2014, 574 incidents in 2015, 484 in 2016, 308 in 2017, it added.
Besides, civilian casualties has decreased by 83 percent (212 in 2014 and 37 in 2017) in Northeast while casualties of security forces declined by 40 per cent (20 in 2014 and 12 in 2017), it added.
The Central Government has been following a multi-pronged strategy to deal with insurgency situation in the Northeastern States.