File photo for representational purpose only. , photo credit: Nisar Ahmed
The Uttar Pradesh Police claimed that 5,967 criminals were apprehended while 1,708 criminals were injured in 10,713 encounters during the six-year tenure of the Yogi Adityanath government.
“As soon as Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath took over the reins of the state, improving the law and order situation in the state became his priority. As per available data, there have been 10,713 encounters since 2017, of which the maximum – 3,152 – were carried out by the Meerut police, in which 63 criminals were killed and 1,708 arrested. This is followed by the Agra Police, which carried out 1,844 encounters in which 14 dreaded criminals were killed, 4,654 arrested, while 55 police personnel were injured,” the UP government said in a press release on Thursday.
It added that the Adityanath government has “adopted a policy of zero tolerance against mafias and cracked down on anti-social elements to strengthen the law and order situation of UP”. Government data shows that 1,497 encounters took place in the last six years under Bareilly division, in which 3,410 criminals were arrested, while seven were killed and 437 were injured.
The UP government said encounters were the top strategy of the state police to crack down on criminals. “UP acted in a phased manner to curb crime and crack down on criminals. Encounter was the top strategy, which instilled fear among the criminals, after which they started fleeing the state. Due to police actions, the state which was once known for poor law and order and atrocities of mafias, is being known today not only in the country but abroad as a crime-free state.