UP tops 2013 list of communal incidents and related deaths

New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh leads the list in the country for the highest number of communal incidents reported in a state in 2013 and also accounts for the most number of casualties as a result of such incidents, the government on Wednesday told Parliament.

A total of 143 people were killed in communal incidents across the country this year with Uttar Pradesh seeing the largest chunk of such occurrences with 250 such incidents which led to the killing of 95 persons and injuries to 313 others. According to data provided in Rajya Sabha today by Union Minister of State for Home, RPN Singh, a total of 725 communal incidents were reported till October this year in the country which, apart from leaving 143 persons dead, also caused injuries to 1,978 others. The state which came second on the list of incidence of communal riots was Madhya Pradesh with 70 occurrences, leading to the death of eight persons and injuries to 225 others. Gujarat and Karnataka saw a total of 61 such incidents each during the said timeframe and reported losses of seven and one lives, respectively. Maharashtra saw a total of 64 such incidents in which 11 people lost their lives while 285 others were injured. The northeastern states of Sikkim, Assam, Tripura, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland reported no communal incidents this year. "Details of the extent of loss of property and persons rendered homeless in such incidents are not maintained centrally," the Minister said in his written reply.