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.
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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.
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“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.