UP Police killed 76 criminals in encounters in two years of Adityanath rule

Force lost five of its own men, 642 state cops wounded in line of duty

At least 76 criminals have been gunned down by Uttar Pradesh Police in encounters under the current Yogi Adityanath government, which came to power in March 2017.

Besides, 5 UP cops also laid down their lives while 642 policemen were wounded in these armed conflicts across the state till May 27, 2019.

However, four hardened criminals were gunned down by the police in Muzaffarnagar and Meerut districts of Western UP yesterday, the death toll of criminals is at least 80 now.

According to the data released by the state government in Lucknow, under the present dispensation, police engaged with criminals in 3,896 encounters and arrested 8,904 accused in the process. While 76 criminals were killed, 1,154 others were injured in these shootouts.

Besides, 406 persons were booked under stringent National Security Act (NSA) while 2,32,404 other accused were arrested by police between June 2017 and May 2019 after filing 1,69,837 first information reports (FIR). Besides, 433,338 persons were rounded up and more than 15 million suspects frisked by cops during routine patrolling in the state.

The state government underlined that the tough ‘zero tolerance’ stance of UP chief minister against criminals, between March 20, 2017 and May 15, 2019, a total of 15,170 criminals in the state had preferred going behind bars by either voluntarily surrendering in courts or cancelling their bail bonds.

Besides, the state government has also instituted a commission for studying the various operational and structural aspects of UP Police and suggesting corrective steps for their future modernisation and strengthening.

Meanwhile, the police had successfully rescued 14 kidnapping victims and arrested 48 captors during January-May 15, 2019. Last year, the cops had arrested 19 persons and recovered more than Rs 25 lakh in fake Indian currency from their possession.

The UP Police, between March 2017 and May 2019, recovered a large cache of factory and countrymade arms and ammunition across the state, including rifles, pistols, revolvers, carbine, self loading rifle (SLR), hand grenade, bombs, detonators and cartridges.

The police also claimed success in curbing the menace of subvert elements like naxalites and Maoists by coordinating with adjoining states of Bihar, Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. The cops kept close vigil on the Maoists elements of Nepal with a view to maintaining law and order and ensuring peaceful conduct of major festivals and events.

To clamp down upon organised crime and dispense severest of punishments in such cases, the state government had tabled UP Control of Organised Crime (UPCOCA) and later forwarded the same to the Centre for approval after taking the consent of both the houses of UP legislature.

In 2018, communal and caste conflict incidents reported 66% and 60% drop compared to preceding years, while cases of religious conversion saw 45% decrease, the state government press communiqué said.