Encounter or killing? Nearly five-fold rise in pending cases, shows data

India has registered 813 cases of encounter killings in the last six years

Two gangsters and suspects in the murder case of Punjabi singer Sidhu Moose Wala were recently killed in an encounter by Punjab Police's Anti-Gangster Task Force in a four-hour-long shootout.

Encounter killings or extrajudicial executions by the police often make headlines and have become increasi­ngly familiar in India. In the last six years, pending cases of encounter killings have increased nearly five-fold. In 2016-17, 25 such cases were pending, which increased to 124 in 2021-22.

While India has seen a 15 per ent decline in encounter killing cases registered in the six years between 2016-17 and 2021-22 (till