Rajnath Singh reviews security in Northeast; data shows insurgency down

Home Minister Rajnath Singh today reviewed the security situation in the northeastern states where insurgency-related incidents have gone down substantially, official sources said.

According to official data, the security situation in the region has improved and insurgency-related incidents has gone down by 85% In 2017 as compared to 2000. There were 308 insurgency-related incidents last year, the lowest since 1997, they said. In 2000, they said, 1,963 insurgency-related incidents had taken place in the Northeast.

Also, the death toll of security personnel and civilians was lowest last year when 12 security forces personnel and 37 civilians were killed, they said. There was no insurgency-related incident reported from Tripura and Mizoram last year. The number of cases of kidnapping or abduction also went down by 40 per cent as 168 incidents were reported in 2016, which came down to 102 last year. The review meeting was also attended by Minister of State Kiren Rijiju, Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba and other senior officials of the ministry. The review by the home minister comes at at time when assembly polls are due in three northeastern states -- Meghalaya, Tripura and Nagaland -- in February-March.