22 civilians die in Haryana police firing in ’16, highest in India

NEW DELHI:: As many as 22 civilians lost their lives in incidents of firing by the Haryana Police in 2016, the highest in the country, surpassing Jammu and Kashmir where the number stood at 16, Lok Sabha was informed on Tuesday.

The number of civilian deaths in police firing was 42 in 2015 which rose to 92 in 2016, the National Crime Records Bureau data presented by the government show.

Minister of State for Home Affairs Hansraj Gangaram Ahir tabled these figures in response to a question seeking to know the number of farmers who died in police firing. He said the NCRB does not maintain specific data on killing of farmers separately.

“The State/UT-wise cases registered under police firing and injuries and deaths of civilians, which may also include farmers, during 2015-2016 is at Annexure,” he said.

The data show Haryana reported the highest number of civilian deaths in police firing in 2016 which was just two the previous year. The number of cases registered in these firing incidents also increased from seven in 2015 to 11 in 2016.

Jammu and Kashmir reported deaths of 16 civilians in police firing in 2016 in 359 cases registered by it as compared to seven cases registered in 2015 in which only one civilian had died.

Assam reported deaths of 16 civilians in police firing compared to seven in 2015, it said.