New Delhi: With 247 incidents of communal violence, Uttar Pradesh has earned the dubious distinction of topping the list of states that witnessed riots in 2013 and the situation is no different in 2014 too.
The communal violence claimed 77 lives last year in UP.
While the data for this year is still being compiled by the Union Home Ministry, a rough estimate put the number of communal clashes reported this year to around 65 in which at least 15 people lost their lives.
In Saharanpur, where clashes broke out between two communities on Saturday, three persons were killed and 33 injured so far.
Riots in Muzaffarnagar and its adjoining areas had claimed over 60 lives during August-September last year. More than 90 people were also injured and over 50,000 people were displaced due to the communal violence then.
Uttar Pradesh also recorded a maximum of 360 people being injured in these incidents in 2013.
The state also registered a maximum of 118 communal incidents in 2012 in which 39 people were killed and 500 were injured.
Maharashtra came next with 88 communal incidents last year followed Madhya Pradesh (84), Karnataka (73), Gujarat (68), Bihar (63) and Rajasthan (52).
A total of 823 such incidents were reported from across the country last year. A total of 133 people were killed and 2,269 injured in these incidents.
While 12 people were killed in Maharashtra in these incidents, 11 people were killed in MP during the period.
During April-June this year, the most number of communal violence incidents were reported from Uttar Pradesh (32) followed by Maharashtra (26), Rajasthan (18) and Madhya Pradesh (17).
A total of 149 communal incidents were reported across the country in April-June this year.
