94% NSA detainees in 2017, 2018 were from MP and UP: Centre

NEW DELHI: Over 94% of the total 1,198  detentions made in 2017 and 2018, were from just from Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, the government informed the Rajya Sabha on Monday.

Union Minister of State for Home Affairs G Kishan Reddy was replying to TMC MP Santanu Sen who asked the Home ministry about the imposition of the National Security Act (NSA) in the country.

Sharing the National Crime Records Bureau data with the Parliament, Reddy said 501 people were detained in different parts of the country under the stringent law in 2017 and 697 people were detained under NSA in 2018.

In 2017, almost 60% of the total people registered under the NSA were from Madhya Pradesh alone. The state along with Uttar Pradesh together accounted for 94% of the total detentions made under NSA that year.

In 2018, the share of detentions made by MP under the stringent law further went upto 71%. That year, MP and UP together detained 662 people, which was almost 95 percent of the total detentions made in the country under the NSA.

Under the National Security Act, an individual can be detained without a charge for up to 12 months. The individual also need not be informed of the charges for 10 days.

According to the NCRB report on ‘Crime in India' for the year 2018, 406 persons, including 333 in Madhya Pradesh and 57 in UP, were released by the Advisory Board that is required by the NSA to review each case of detention. Percentage-wise, 67.2% of the total detainees in Madhya Pradesh were released by the board in 2018, and in UP, the percentage of those released by the Board was 34%.

The remaining 291, including 162 in MP and 110 in UP, remained under detention in 2018.

In 2017, of the total 501 persons detained in the country 2017, 229 were released by the board countrywide, including 133 from MP and 93 from UP. That year, 272 remained in custody, including from 167 MP and 78 from UP remained in custody.