No staged encounters: U.P. govt.

Minister says the 17 killings in the State were only operational casualties

September 22, 2017 09:13 pm | Updated 09:13 pm IST - NEW DELHI

Uttar Pradesh Power Minister Shrikant Sharma. File

Uttar Pradesh Power Minister Shrikant Sharma. File

Uttar Pradesh Power Minister and government spokesperson Shrikant Sharma has dismissed reports that the killing of 17 alleged criminals within the first six months of the Yogi Adityanath government points to a tendency to view encounter killings as a substitute for the due judicial process.

He told The Hindu here on Friday that the facts stated otherwise, with the killings occurring as operational casualties and police personnel too being hit.

“The State government is very clear that it has to crack down on criminal elements. Over 430 encounters have taken place in this period, and over 1,106 individuals with a price on their head due to various criminal activities have been arrested. In this process, 17 people were killed. Nearly 89 policemen have been injured and one policeman has also lost his life. It is unfair to say that this is being seen as any substitute for the judicial process, these are operational outcomes,” he said.

Mayawati’s charge

Bahujan Samaj Party chief and former Chief Minister Mayawati had questioned the high number of encounter killings in the State. “Blowing the trumpet on police encounters in the past six months in the name of crime control raises the question of whether only members of a particular class or community indulge in crime or are history-sheeters,” she said.

Mr. Sharma was quick to respond to this criticism, saying that unlike governments in the past, the BJP-led government in the State was not being seen as providing any kind of shelter to criminal elements.

“The government is active on cracking down on crime, and it should be a matter of some relief to the citizens that this government is not seen as sheltering any criminal elements,” the Minister said.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.