Amid the backdrop of rising encounter cases in Uttar Pradesh, the Yogi Adityanath has now gone for a fresh crackdown on the most wanted criminals in the state. Uttar Pradesh has seen a spurt in the recent encounters in which 24 criminals have been arrested and one gangster killed by police in 15 incidents in different districts of Uttar Pradesh during the past two days, reported PTI. The encounters took place in Bulandshahr, Shamli, Kanpur, Saharanpur, Lucknow, Baghpat, Muzaffarnagar, Gorakhpur, Hapur and Meerut. “As many as 24 wanted criminals were arrested and one gangster killed in 15 police encounters reported from 10 districts of the state over a span of 48 hours,” the spokesperson said.
The Uttar Pradesh Police has intensified its crackdown on criminals after the new DGP O P Singh took charge last month. Chief Minister Yogi Aditynath had vowed to take strict action against the criminals after his government faced criticism over a string of crimes in the state. According to The Times of India, OP Singh said that at least 8 of the arrested gangsters carried a cash reward on their head ranging from Rs 15,000 to 50,000. “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 bottom line is that outlaws who are wanted in criminal cases have to be stopped,” Singh was quoted as saying.
Gangster Inderpal, who carried a reward of Rs 25,000, was gunned down by the Special Task Force in the encounter in Naglakhepad jungle yesterday. According to Superintendent of Police (STF) Rajiv Narain Singh, Inderpal was wanted in more than 30 cases of loot and murder in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand. The police also claimed to have recovered countrymade arms, ammunition, motorcycle, cars apart from cash which was robbed by the criminals. The maximum number of encounters was reported from Bulandshahr and Shamli, where four and six criminals were arrested respectively. Three of those arrested in Bulandshahr carried a cash reward of Rs 20,000 each on their head.
Yesterday, 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. Police said that a team was rushed to the spot after receiving a complaint from the victim. The police have seized a .32 bore pistol, a 12 bore gun, bullets and the motorcycle on which they were escaping. The criminals were injured in the gunfight. Police claimed that they have confessed to their involvement in the murder of businessman Dinesh Gupta of Nai Bazaar, Jhangha, in Gorakhpur on Sunday.