Under the zero-tolerance policy of the Yogi government, a robust crackdown on crime and criminals is underway in Uttar Pradesh.

Within the last seven months, over 23,000 criminals have been punished for their crimes in more than 17,000 cases due to the effective advocacy of the Prosecution Directorate in various courts across the state. Notably, 10 districts of the state have excelled in securing convictions for criminals.

A significant number of such criminals have been effectively dealt with in court with the strong support of the police. UP’s Prosecution Directorate is playing a crucial role in this. Unlike in previous governments where the Prosecution Directorate was sidelined, the Yogi government has given it special attention.

ADG of the Prosecution Directorate Dipesh Juneja mentioned here on Thursday that Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had directed to launch a campaign in the state to effectively prosecute criminals in court and obtain 100 per cent witness testimony to ensure strict punishment for criminals in July 2023. Under this, Operation Conviction was launched from July 1, 2023 to give the harshest punishment to criminals. Through this campaign, 23,971 criminals were punished in 17,657 cases till January 25, 2024.

Through effective advocacy in the court, 19 criminals were awarded death penalty while the maximum number of 9,139 criminals were given punishment of less than 5 years. Under Operation Conviction, from July 1, 2023 to January 25, 2024, a total of 2,213 criminals were given life imprisonment, 432 criminals were sentenced to 20 years or more, 30 criminals were sentenced to 15 to 19 years, 1,405 criminals were sentenced to 10 to 14 years, and 2,154 criminals were sentenced to 5 to 9 years of imprisonment.

Juneja said that a total of 8,579 criminals served their sentences in jail. The majority of these criminals received punishment in 1,482 POCSO cases.

The Yogi government has brought punishment to offenders in various criminal cases. This includes 844 cases of sensational murder, 260 cases of rape, 50 cases of dacoity, 208 cases of robbery, 1001 cases of theft, 89 cases of home invasion, 1,075 cases of other sensational crimes, 116 cases of vehicle theft, and 12,532 cases of other incidents.

Under Operation Conviction, eight districts and two police commissionerates in the state excelled in punishing criminals. Barabanki police topped the list by punishing 714 criminals, followed by Gautam Buddh Nagar Commissionerate with 673, Saharanpur with 538, Moradabad with 519, Bijnor with 479, Muzaffarnagar with 457, Meerut with 451, Bulandshahr with 441, and Agra Commissionerate with 349 criminals receiving punishments.