In the last two years, the number of deaths of CRPF personnel due to heart attacks, depression, suicides, malaria, dengue and other such reasons was 24 times higher than when performing operational duties.
In a reply to the Rajya Sabha, Union Minister of State for Home Hansraj G Ahir said the data for 2015 reveals that 82 troops of the force died due to heart attacks, 13 due to dengue or malaria, 35 owing to depression and suicides while 277 lost their lives due to other reasons.
Ahir said five CRPF men were killed in 2015, 31 in 2016 and 13 till April 4 this year in the three left Wing Extremism-affected States of Chhattisgarh, Bihar and Jharkhand. As compared to these operational or on-duty deaths, 476 personnel of the country’s largest paramilitary force died last year while 407 died in 2015 owing to non-operational reasons.
The data for last year shows 92 CRPF personnel died due to heart attacks, five due to malaria and dengue, 26 owing to depression and suicide and 353 due to other non-operational reasons.
At the same time, the number of security personnel killed in mine blasts in the country has sharply declined from 285 in 2010 to only 32 so far this year, Ahir said replying to supplementaries. The number of securitymen who died in mine blasts in 2010 was 285 and the number is gradually coming down.
“In 2011, 142 security personnel died in mine attacks, while in 2012, the number came down to 114. In 2013, 115 security personnel died in mine attacks, 88 in 2014, 59 in 2015, 65 in 2016 and so far in 2017 security personnel who died in such attacks came down to only 32,” he said. Ahir said each batallion of security forces have at least one or two mine-protected vehicles (MPVs) and only 10 MPVs have been sent to Kashmir so far.