NEW DELHI: There are as many as 66 terrorist/separatist groups active across the country, including 34 in Manipur alone, the government informed the LokSabha on Tuesday. Most outfits active in Jammu & Kashmir and the hinterland are patronized by Pakistan-based parent outfits which extend them shelter, training, weapons and funding. 

 

Minister of state for home RPN Singh stated in written reply to a question that at least five terrorist outfits - LeT, Indian Mujahideen, Hizbul Mujahideen, Harkat ul Jihadi Islami and Al Badr -- have presence across the hinterland, particularly in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Karnataka, Kerala, Rajasthan and Andhra Pradesh. The government also said there were reports of anti-national and separatist activities from states like Tamil Nadu and Assam. 

 

While five of the 66 terrorist/separatist groups listed by the MHA are operating in Jammu & Kashmir, with Lashker e Taiba and Hizbul Mujahideen topping the list, 10 are active in Assam, four each in Meghalaya and Nagaland, two each in Tripura and Mizoram, and three in Punjab. Incidentally, the list shared with the Lok Sabha does not include Left-wing extremist outfits like the CPI(Maoist), banned under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act. Though the list put the number of Manipuri insurgent outfits at 34, MHA officials later clarified that at least three of them have already surrendered. 

 

According to Singh, the broad activities of these organizations included terrorism, secession, smuggling/production/circulation of fake Indian currency, terror financing, etc. The government has strengthened its intelligence apparatus, he said, with MAC operational on a 24x7 basis and real-time coordination between the Centre and states on security matters. The minister added that terror funding was being tracked and countered. While NIA has created a terror funding and fake currency cell, banking companies and financial institutions are required under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act, to submit suspicious transaction reports (STRs), The Financial Intelligence Unit regularly alerts the law enforcement and intelligence agencies on these STRs.