The killing of 40 Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel on February 14 in Jammu and Kashmir's Pulwama district is the second worst single attack on the paramilitary force since 2010. 75 CRPF personnel were killed in 2010 in Dantewada, Chattisgarh by maoists through a deadly landmine blast.
In less than 50 days into 2019, there were six attacks against CRPF personnel, with the Jaish-e-Mohammed leading the attacks in four of them. In 2017, 53 CRPF personnel lost their lives in 37 incidents across the country.
Data from South Asian Terrorism Portal (SATP) shows that 1 member of the CRPF was martyred on January 5. The CRPF personnel was killed in a terrorist attack executed by another radical outfit, Hizbul Mujahideen, in Aripal which is incidentally in the district of Pulwama.
The CRPF paid tribute to this martyr Mahesh Kumar Meena, as ascertained through this press release, which can be read as below:
Attacks on the CRPF Since 2014
The SATP and the annual reports of the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) have been releasing data on the casualties in the CRPF since 2014. The SATP provides a dissection of these yearly figures by individual incidents.
BOOM has consolidated and visualised this available data for convenience and comparison:
'No Major Terrorist Incidents Since 2014'?
At the two-day BJP National Conclave in New Delhi on January 12, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman claimed that there had not been a major terrorist attack in India after 2014.
Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman at BJP National Convention in Delhi: We have not had one major terrorist attack in this country after 2014. This govt under the leadership of PM Modi has ensured one thing that there shall not be an opportunity for terrorists to disturb peace. pic.twitter.com/qWehbpZkFd
BOOM had factchecked Sitharaman's claim which can be read here and found the claim to be FALSE.
Between 2014 to 2018, 343 security forces died in J&K, a 102% increase from 47 in 2014 to 95 in 2018. However, terrorists killed by security forces have also seen a huge rise of 145% from 110 in 2014 to 270 in 2018.
The Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM), a Pakistan-based terror outfit, rammed an SUV laden with 300 to 350 kilograms of explosives into a convoy carrying forces of the CRPF that was going from Srinagar to Jammu. The attack took place in Awantipora in the Pulwama district.
JeM, while claiming responsibility, declared a radicalised local, Adil Ahmed Dar to be the suicide bomber who was the perpetrator in this attack. Many parallels are being drawn to the terror attacks in Uri killing 19 personnel in 2016 and the JeM attack outside the J&K Assembly in 2001, killing 38.