LUCKNOW: The Uttar Pradesh Police has recorded nearly 15,000 encounters since 2017 in pursuit of its policy of zero tolerance towards crime. While over 9,000 suffered gunshot injuries in the leg, 238 were killed during operations targeting fugitives and repeat offenders, officials said on Thursday.
Director General of Uttar Pradesh Police Rajeev Krishna said the department has maintained an aggressive crackdown on crime.
"Over the last eight years, 14,973 operations have been carried out, resulting in the arrest of 30,694 criminals. Of them, 9,467 who attacked police were shot in the leg, while 238 were killed in encounters," Krishna said.
To counter allegations that the state police's encounter spree was a 'cover' to hide their failure to nab the real culprits, the Uttar Pradesh government issued new guidelines on encounters last year, to make them more 'transparent'.
Under the new guidelines, videography of the encounter spot and postmortem examination were made mandatory, among other things. A panel of two doctors were to carry out a postmortem of the dead body and the same would be videographed. Moreover, the FSL (forensic science laboratory) team would also be examining the encounter site.
The investigation would not be given to the police station under whose jurisdiction the encounter had taken place and the investigating officer would be at least one rank above the officials involved in the encounter, the guidelines stipulated.
The new guideline made it clear that the next of kin of the person killed in the encounter must be informed immediately, and the weapons used in the encounter would have to be surrendered so that they too could be examined to ensure transparency.
"The highest number of anti-crime action took place in the Meerut zone in western Uttar Pradesh, where 7,969 criminals were arrested and 2,911 injured. In the Agra zone, 5,529 criminals were arrested of which 741 were injured, and in the Bareilly zone, 4,383 criminals were caught, with 921 injured. In the Varanasi zone, police arrested 2,029 criminals and injured 620," the DGP said in a statement.
In the commissionerate areas, Gautam Buddh Nagar recorded the highest number of arrests with 1,983 criminals caught and 1,180 injured. In Ghaziabad Commissionerate, 1,133 were arrested and 686 injured, while in Agra Commissionerate, 1,060 criminals were arrested and 271 injured, Krishna said.
The DGP added that since Yogi Adityanath assumed office in 2017, his focus had been on establishing the rule of law in Uttar Pradesh and eliminating criminals.
DGP Krishna noted that the CM had made it clear that "criminals have no place in Uttar Pradesh. They must either give up crime or leave the state".
The DGP said, in order to strengthen law enforcement, the weaponry of the police force was modernised, and cops were imparted advanced training in tackling crime.
"Thanks to these strict policies and continuous campaigns, Uttar Pradesh is now considered one of the safest states in India," the state police chief said.