Under Yogi’s Law And Order Drive In UP, At Least 30 Criminals Killed In Encounters Since March

Under Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s drive to improve law and order situation in Uttar Pradesh, the state police has gunned down at least 30 criminals in numerous encounters since March 2017, The Hindu has reported.

The latest addition to the list was made on Wednesday (3 January), when two criminals were killed within 24 hours by the police. One of the criminals, identified as Sabir Ahmad of the Mukim Kala gang, had a bounty of Rs 10,000 on him. A police constable, who was shot in the head, succumbed to the critical injury.

Between March and September, the Uttar Pradesh police conducted 420 encounters, killing 15 hardened criminals in less than six months since Yogi came to power.

“Agar apradh karenge toh thok diye jayenge (If they commit crimes, they will be hit),” the Chief Minister had said in an interview on India TV in June 2017. The Bharatiya Janata Party, during its election campaign, had promised to act decisively on the issue of poor law and order in the state.

On 20 December, the government, acting on its poll promise to improve law and order, introduced in the state assembly a bill to enact a stringent law on the lines of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) to combat land mafia, mining mafia and organised crimes in the state.

The state last year underwent a major administrative reshuffle in which the government drew up a list of efficient bureaucrats and senior police officials to be posted at strategic locations in a bid to improve the law and order situation in the state, ABP News had reported in April.