According to the National Crime Records Bureau’s (NCRB) annual “Crime in India” report for the year 2021, there were twice as many cops murdered in violence by Left Wing Extremists (LWE) as there were by terrorists.
As per the research report, 40 police officers were killed by LWEs in 2021 compared to 18 slain by terrorists, radicals, or Jihadis. Similar to this, 11 police officers were murdered by criminals, 1 by rioting mobs, and 11 by border shooting. Self Weapon caused the deaths of 7 unintentional victims and 339 accidental deaths.
However, there were no police casualties caused by the North East Insurgents. Out of the 427 police officers died while doing their duties, 233 were constables, followed by head constables (88), assistant sub-inspectors (37), sub-inspectors (26), inspectors (4), a gazetted officer (1), and two other ranks.
A total of 1632 police officers of all ranks were reported wounded within the same time period.
Tamil Nadu had the highest number of police fatalities among the states, with 56 officers killed in car accidents and two by intruders. Forty police officers perished in traffic accidents and LWE in Chattisgarh. 38 police officers lost their lives in traffic accidents in Bihar, while one was slain by rioting mobs.
In the union territories, terrorists killed 18 police officers in Jammu and Kashmir, and two more died in traffic accidents in Delhi.
Odisha recorded the highest number of police officers hurt during operations to apprehend criminals in 2021. 12 of the 188 police officers who were hurt by rioting mobs and 176 by criminals each. A total of 159 police officers were hurt in Kerala, with 90 of them being hurt by criminals, 68 by riotous mobs, and one in a car accident. In Tamil Nadu, a total of 133 police officers were reported hurt, including 30 offenders and three unintentional self-defense incidents.
However, the largest number of police injuries in Union Territories were recorded in Delhi, where 156 officers were hurt by riotous mobs, 22 by criminals, and 17 in accidents.
