UP Encounters

The arrest of five men, accused of fomenting communal tension and killing a 22-year-old man in Bahraich, following a gunfight with police that left two of them wounded, has brought back the spotlight on the encounters by the Uttar Pradesh Police under the Yogi Adityanath regime. Thursday's encounter grabbed national attention as it came in the backdrop of massive unrest and public outrage in Bahraich that saw violent clashes on Sunday allegedly over loud music being played outside a place of worship during a Durga Puja immersion procession. A local, Ram Gopal Mishra, part of the passing group, died of gunshot wounds in the ensuing violence, triggering vandalism and arson in the area with mobs torching several houses, shops, showrooms, hospitals and vehicles. But then, Uttar Pradesh isn't new to police encounters per se, though some have lingered in public memory longer than others due to varied reasons and often come under the scanner with BJP's political rivals alleging foul ...

Five suspects in the Bahraich violence case were arrested here Thursday after an encounter with the Uttar Pradesh Police in which two of them suffered gunshot injuries, a senior official said. The accused were allegedly trying to flee to Nepal, which shares a border with Bahraich district in Uttar Pradesh, the officer said. "Five accused have been arrested," Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Amitabh Yash told a news channel. On the encounter, he said, "I have information of exchange of fire and gunshot injuries." Yash, also the chief of the Special Task Force of the Uttar Pradesh Police, said the Bahraich police, investigating the murder and subsequent violence, has already established the link of one of the accused in Nepal. Director General of Police (DGP) Prashant Kumar said those arrested have been identified as Mohammad Faheen, Mohammad Sarfaraz and Abdul Hameed, who are named accused in the FIR -- and two others Mohammad Taleem alias Sabloo and Mohammad .

Gufran, against whom more than 13 cases of murder, loot and robbery were registered was shot during the encounter that broke out around 5 am in Kaushambi

The Supreme Court on Friday questioned the Uttar Pradesh government why gangster-politician Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf were paraded before media while being taken to hospital for a medical checkup in police custody in Prayagraj. The top court, which was hearing a plea by advocate Vishal Tiwari seeking an independent probe into the killing of Ahmad and his brother Ashraf, also asked the UP government how the killers got the knowledge that they were being taken to hospital. "How did they know? We have seen it on TV. Why were they not taken to the ambulance right from the entry gate of the hospital? Why were they paraded?" a bench of Justices S Ravindra Bhat and Dipankar Datta asked senior advocate Mukul Rohatgi, who appeared for the UP government. Rohatgi informed the bench the state government is probing the incident and has constituted a three-member commission for this. A UP Police special investigation team is also investigating the matter, he said. "This man and his entir

The Supreme Court on Friday directed the Uttar Pradesh government to submit a status report on steps taken after the killing of gangster-politician Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf in Prayagraj. A bench of Justices S Ravindra Bhat and Dipankar Datta also sought a report from the UP government on the police encounter of Ahmad's son Asad in Jhansi. Asad was killed in an encounter by a special task force (ST) team of the UP Police on April 13. Two days later, Ahmad and Ashraf were shot dead at point-blank range by three men posing as media persons when they were being taken to a medical college in Prayagraj for a health check-up under police escort. The top court was hearing a plea, filed by advocate Vishal Tiwari, who has sought an inquiry into the 183 encounters that have taken place in Uttar Pradesh since 2017.

Hundreds of cases pending with National Human Rights Commission

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has issued a notice to the Uttar Pradesh Police over the killing of gangster-politician Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf when they were being escorted by police in Prayagraj, officials said on Tuesday. In its notice to the Director General of Police of Uttar Pradesh and the Commissioner of Police of Prayagraj, the commission sought reports from them within four weeks. The reports should cover all the aspects leading to the killings, copies of medical-legal certificates of the deceased, inquest report, post-mortem report, video cassette/CD of post-mortem examination, site plan of scene of occurrence of the crime, and magisterial enquiry report, it added. Ahmad and Ashraf were shot dead at point-blank range by three men posing as journalists in the middle of a media interaction on Saturday night when police personnel were escorting them to a medical college in Prayagraj for a checkup. They were brought to Prayagraj from Gujarat and Bareill

A letter by Atiq Ahmad with instructions to send it to the Uttar Pradesh chief minister and the chief justice of India in case of his death is being dispatched to them, the slain gangster-turned-politician's lawyer said on Tuesday. "That letter in a sealed envelope is neither with me nor sent by me. It is kept somewhere else and being sent by some other person. I don't know the contents of the letter," said his lawyer Vijay Mishra. Atiq Ahmad (60) and his brother Ashraf were shot dead at point-blank range by three men posing as journalists in the middle of a media interaction on Saturday night while police personnel were escorting them to a medical college in Prayagraj for a checkup. "Atiq Ahmad had said that if there were any mishap or if he was murdered, the letter in the sealed envelope should be sent to the chief justice of India and Uttar Pradesh chief minister," Mishra told PTI. The brothers, both jailed in Prayagraj, were in handcuffs when they were killed in full view of ..

The three assailants who shot gangster-politician Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf were shifted from the Prayagraj Central Jail to the Pratapgarh District Jail on Monday, a senior official said here. The official said the transfer was done on administrative grounds. The assailants -- Mohit alias Sunny (23) of Hamirpur, Lavlesh Tiwari (22) of Banda and Arun Maurya (18) of Kasganj -- were arrested soon after the dramatic shootout outside the Prayagraj hospital where policemen were escorting the brothers for a medical check-up Saturday night. The trio were taken from Prayagraj at 12 noon and reached Pratapgarh at 2.10 pm, officials said. One of the sons of Atiq Ahmad is currently lodged in the Prayagraj Central Jail in Uttar Pradesh.

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav has said that questions have been raised over "fake" encounters in Uttar Pradesh and the BJP-ruled state has received maximum NHRC notices on such actions, remarks coming in the backdrop of death of gangster-politician Atiq Ahmad's son Asad in a gunfight. Speaking here on Thursday, the former Uttar Pradesh chief minister also took a jibe at his successor Yogi Adityanath over his "will reduce mafia to dust" comments made in the Assembly, saying those who mouth such "filmi dialogue" have no faith in the Constitution. Gangster-politician Atiq Ahmad's son Asad and an accomplice, both wanted in the Umesh Pal murder case, were shot dead in an exchange of fire with the Uttar Pradesh Police near Jhansi on Thursday. The alleged encounter took place apparently at the time Ahmad, a former SP legislator, was in a Prayagraj court, where he was presented before the Chief Judicial Magistrate in connection with the same murder. Asked about the gunfight, Yada

Vijay alias Usman, an accused in the Umesh Pal murder case, was shot dead by a Prayagraj police team in an encounter here in the early hours of Monday, officials said. Dhumanganj Station House Officer (SHO) Rajesh Kumar Maurya said the encounter took place in Kaundhiyara police station area around 5.30 am. He said Usman was involved in the shooting of Umesh Pal and two other policemen on February 24. Umesh Pal, the key witness in the former BSP MLA Raju Pal murder case, and his police security guards Sandeep Nishad and Raghvendra Singh were shot on February 24 outside his home in the Dhoomanganj area. While Pal died on the same day, the security personnel died later during treatment. A couple of days later, Arbaz, who allegedly drove the SUV of the assailants, was killed in an encounter with the police in Prayagraj.

Politically, extra-judicial killings have always invariably garnered public admiration all across the country.

The three-member inquiry commission probing the encounter killings of gangster Vikas Dubey and five of his alleged associates has given a clean chit to Uttar Pradesh Police because of lack of evidence

The panel will be headed by retired Allahabad High Court judge Shashi Kant Agarwal and submit its report in two months

In Bikru village, where eight policemen were ambushed last week when they had gone to arrest Vikas Dubey, the administration has stepped up security and deployed the Rapid Action Force

Gangster Vikas Dubey shot dead in encounter: All you need to know

Dubey snatched the pistol of an STF personnel and tried to flee but was surrounded by the police team and he was injured in an exchange of fire

More than 25 police teams, mostly headed by senior officials have carried out raids at hundreds of locations in various districts

She said the state's law and order situation has been demolished due to the nexus of ruling party leaders and government officials with criminals

Opposition parties in Uttar Pradesh, lashed out at the Yogi Adityanath government over the killing of eight policemen in an encounter in Kanpur, saying no one was safe in the state.