In the past six years, since Yogi Adityanath took over the rein in Uttar Pradesh, nearly 178 listed criminals, most of them carrying cash rewards ranging from Rs 75,000 to Rs 5 lakh on their arrest, have been shot dead in encounters.

According to UP police, at least every 13th day, a listed criminal was killed in a police encounter ain the state in the past six years.

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Police have arrested 23,069 criminals, following encounters between March 20, 2017 and March 6, 2023, of which 4,911 were injured.

ADG, law and order, Prashant Kumar said that during the exchange of fire, as many as 15 cops also laid their lives while another 1,424 suffered bullet injuries.

“Under the policy of zero tolerance against crime, a drive targeting criminal, gang lords and mafia has been undertaken by the UP Police since 2017. Not just the Special Task Force (STF) but the police of the commissionerates and districts are running campaigns against the gangsters,” he said.

Kumar said that maximum criminals were killed in Varanasi zone (19) while Meerut zone registered maximum arrests at 5,987.

“All the criminals who tried to engage with the cops wilfully will not be tolerated and dealt with seriously. UP Police has given a befitting reply to all the mafias and criminals who deliberately attacked cops,” said Kumar.

The ADG also said that UP Police followed the Supreme Court guidelines in encounters and not even a single encounter done by the police since 2017 has come under the apex court’s scanner.

He also said that two criminals carrying cash reward of Rs 5 lakh each, four carrying reward of Rs 2.5 lakhs, two carrying reward of Rs 2 lakh, six with Rs 1. 5 lakh and 27 carrying Rs 1 lakh cash reward along with several others carrying rewards of Rs 75,000 were gunned down by the police in the last six years.

Police also slapped the Gangsters Act, seized properties of criminals and exterminated over 50,000 criminals, who ran extortion rackets, after booking them under the Goonda Act, said the ADG.

According to the UP Police dossier, 28 criminals were eliminated in encounters in 2017, while 41 in 2018, 34 in 2019, and 26 each in 2020 and 2021, while 14 were eliminated in 2022. This year, nine have been eliminated in police encounters so far.