Terrorist violence cases, stone-pelting, infiltration attempts in J-K reduced in 2020: MHA

The number of terrorist violence cases and stone-pelting incidents in Jammu and Kashmir have reduced drastically in 2020 in comparison to 2019, said Union Minister of State Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy on Monday.

Speaking in the Rajya Sabha, Reddy said 27 people were injured in ceasefire violations by Pakistan in 2019 while the number came down to 71 in 2020.

He also informed that the infiltration attempts also dropped to 99 in 2020 from 216 in 2019.

"A total of 157 terrorists were neutralised in 2019 and 221 were eliminated in 2020. There were 594 cases of terrorist violence in 2019, which reduced to 244 in 2020. There were 327 stone pelting incidents in 2020 as compared to 2,009 such incidents in 2019," he said.

"127 people were injured in ceasefire violations by Pakistan in 2019, in 2020 only 71 people were injured. In 2019 there were 216 attempts of infiltration and in 2020 there were 99 such attempts," the Union Minister added.

Terrorist violence cases and stone-pelting incidents dropped in Jammu and Kashmir following the abrogation of Article 370 in August 2019 that gave special status to the erstwhile state. Jammu and Kashmir was also bifurcated into two union territories- Jammu and Kashmir and Ladakh.

Meanwhile, on Monday, Rajya Sabha passed the Jammu and Kashmir Reorgsation (Amendment) Bill, 2021. The bill is aimed to merge the Jammu and Kashmir cadre Indian Administrative Service (IAS), Indian Police Service (IPS), and Indian Foreign Service (IFS) officers with that of the Arunachal Pradesh, Goa, Mizoram, and Union Territory (AGMUT).

The bill was introduced by Reddy in the Upper House on February 4 to replace Jammu and Kashmir Reorgsation (Amendment) Ordinance, 2021. The President had promulgated the ordinance to amend the Jammu and Kashmir Reorgsation Act, 2019, the Central Government had informed in its gazette notification in January.

The ordinance amended Section 13 [Applicability of Article 239A] and Section 88 [Provisions relating to All India Services] of the Act. The Rajaya Sabha has been adjourned till Tuesday.

( With inputs from ANI )