Atiq's son may also be killed in encounter: SP MP

Etawah: Prof Ram Gopal Yadav, MP and secretary general of the Samajwadi Party (SP), has said that he apprehended that one of the two minor sons of Atiq Ahmad, could also be killed in police encounter very soon.

"When the real culprits are out of reach, there is pressure from the top to stage encounters. The police have already detained the two minor sons of Atiq Ahmad," he said on Tuesday.

Yadav, who is in Etawah to celebrate Holi, told reporters: "The constitution gives us the right to life and the police cannot take anyone's life in this manner. They should adopt the legal process in such cases."

He said that in cases of fake encounter, nothing happens to leader but it is the police personnel who will face action.

Replying to a question about potato farmers facing a glut, the SP MP said that the double engine government was not interested in solving problems of farmers.

The farmers may have to resort to an agitation to get the government to address their problems, he said.

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.

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.