KOCHI: Kerala has not registered a single case under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA) -- the country’s primary anti-terror law -- in the first five months of 2026, marking the steepest decline in nearly a decade and signalling what security agencies see as the weakening of terrorist and Maoist activity in the state.
Data tabled in the Kerala Assembly show UAPA cases have fallen consistently over the past three years—from 32 in 2023 to five in 2024 and three in 2025. As of May 31 this year, not a single case had been registered under the Act.
Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) P Vijayan said the fall in registrations reflects a genuine decline in offences attracting the stringent anti-terror law. “UAPA is an offence-specific law. The number of cases has come down because the offences themselves have declined,” he told TNIE.
According to Vijayan, Kerala witnessed the peak of UAPA cases around 2016. Since then, the influence of terrorist and Maoist groups has weakened considerably, leading to a steady decline in cases and just three registrations in 2025.
He attributed the change to sustained multi-agency efforts, including coordinated operations with neighbouring Karnataka and Tamil Nadu in tri-junction forest areas, proactive welfare measures by the state government in tribal settlements, and constant surveillance by the state intelligence wing and the anti-terrorism squad (ATS).
UAPA Review Authority chairman Justice P S Gopinathan said the trend reflects both effective policing and the shrinking operational capacity of banned organisations.
‘Huge decline in activities of banned outfits’
“It would be correct to say there has been a genuine decline because of law enforcement. The activities of banned organisations have reduced substantially,” he said.
Gopinathan said the review committee scrutinises every proposal for prosecution under the UAPA and recommends sanction only when backed by substantive evidence. In several cases, it declined approval after finding the available evidence insufficient to invoke the stringent provisions of the Act.
Organised Maoist activity has largely waned, though isolated incidents continue to surface. At the same time, officials said the absence of a single UAPA case so far this year should not be read as the end of the threat but as an indication that sustained policing, intelligence-based operations and coordinated action have significantly reduced the movement’s footprint in Kerala.
While Maoist-linked UAPA cases have declined, Vijayan said the police continue to monitor attempts by activists to exploit issues such as evictions and local disputes. He said any unlawful activity, regardless of the cause or legal framework involved, would be dealt with strictly in accordance with the law.