Over 50% Of Arrests Under Tough Anti-Terror Law Under 30: Centre
NDTV
The UAPA has been severely criticised by the opposition and rights groups who say it is often used to muzzle dissent.
More than 50 per cent of people arrested under the controversial anti-terrorism law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act or UAPA in the past three years were below the age of 30 years with the highest number from Uttar Pradesh, Manipur and Jammu and Kashmir.
According to the statistics placed by the Home Ministry in Lok Sabha, 2,501 or 53.32 per cent of the 4,690 people arrested between 2018 and 2002 under UAPA were below the age of 30 years.
When it comes to states, Uttar Pradesh accounted for the highest number of 1,338 arrests in three years. Of this, 69.58 per cent or 931 people were below the age of 30 years.
Manipur came second in the list with 943 arrests under UAPA during the period out of which 499 or 52.91 per cent were below the age of 30 years. In Jammu and Kashmir, this was 750 and 366 respectively.
