Uttar Pradesh: 15 encounters reported in 48 hours, police arrests 24 criminals; one gangster killed

Amid the criticism over rising cases of encounters in Uttar Pradesh, as many as 15 police shootouts were reported from 10 districts of the state in just 48 hours, said a media report. According to The Times of India, 24 wanted criminals were arrested and one gangster was killed in these encounters. “The idea is to arrest these wanted gangsters and put them behind bars. The police have been directed to use force only in self-defence when there was no other option. The bottomline is that outlaws who are wanted in criminal cases have to be stopped,” Director General of Police OP Singh was quoted as saying by The Times of India. The most recent incident in the series of these encounters is the shootout between the state police and alleged dacoits on Saturday morning in Lucknow’s Krishna Nagar area where two persons were arrested, according to News18.

#BREAKING -- Encounter in Lucknow. Police shootout with dacoits in Krishnanagar area. 2 people have been arrested | @pranshumisraa with more details pic.twitter.com/VXsEF9Bjcw

— News18 (@CNNnews18) February 3, 2018

On Friday, two suspected criminals and as many policemen, including a station house officer, were injured in an encounter in Gorakhpur. The incident took place when Maneesh Yadav and Manoj Yadav were escaping after threatening a village head. Police said that a team was rushed to the spot after the victim informed that he had been threatened by two people. In the encounter, Station House Officer, Khorabar, Sudhir Kumar, and Sub-Inspector, Jhangha, Sunil Kumar Singh, suffered minor injuries, they said. [caption id=“attachment_4193807” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. AFP[/caption] The police seized a 32 bore pistol, a 12 bore gun, bullets and the motorcycle on which they were escaping. The criminals, who were subsequently arrested and admitted to BRD Medical College, confessed to their involvement in the murder of businessman Dinesh Gupta of Nai Bazaar, Jhangha, on Sunday. The zonal inspector general had announced a reward of Rs 50,000 on each of them. According to this _Firstpost_ report, a total of 1,782 fake encounter cases were registered between 2000-2017 across the country and Uttar Pradesh alone accounted for an alarming 44.55 percent (794 cases). Taking cognisance of the violent crackdown by the state government on criminals, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) had sought a detailed report from the UP government in November last year,  News18 had reported. With inputs from agencies