Hours after the four accused in the Hyderabad gang-rape and murder case was killed in a police encounter after they tried to escape, UP police have said that they are also not behind in encounters with violent criminals. UP police were reacting to a comment by BSP chief Mayawati saying that UP police must learn from Hyderabad police.
While the circumstances under which the Hyderabad encounter took place remains questionable, most people, including politicians have welcomed this ‘quick justice’ for the veterinary doctor who was gang-raped, killed and burnt by the four accused. Former UP CM Mayawati was among them, who lauded the action of Hyderabad police, and said that UP police must learn from them to combat crime in Uttar Pradesh.
The figures speak for themselves. Jungle Raj is a thing of the past. No longer now.
103 criminals killed and 1859 injured in 5178 police engagements in the last more than 2 years.
17745 criminals surrendered or cancelled their own bails to go to jail.Hardly state guests. https://t.co/3Tk8qFLtK3
— UP POLICE (@Uppolice) December 6, 2019
But Uttar Pradesh police feel they have nothing to learn from their Hyderabad counterparts in this regard. Responding to media tweets reporting the Mayawati’s comment, the official Twitter handle of Uttar Police gave the data of criminals killed and injured in encounters with police. They said that the figures speak for themselves, and “jungle Raj is a thing of the past. No longer now.” The UP police tweet revealed that in last 2 years, 103 criminals were killed and 1859 were injured in engagement by police in last 2 years. They also added that 17,745 criminals surrendered or canceled their own bails to go to jail during this period. They ended the tweet with “Hardly state guests”.
It is interesting to note UP police posted the same tweet several times, responding to different tweets from different media handles reporting the statement of Mayawati.
Several cases of criminals surrendering to police have happened in UP over the last few years under the Yogi Adityanath government after a number of criminals were killed or injured in police encounters. According to UP government data released in January this year, more than 3000 encounters had taken place between March 2017 and July 2018, where 78 criminals were killed and over 800 were injured. Moreover, 11,981 criminals had got their bails canceled and surrendered in court during that period in fear of being killed by police. Reports of seasons criminals moving around with placards saying they will never commit any crime and asking for forgiveness had also emerged from the state.
Even as the Hyderabad rape and murder case comes to an abrupt end, although there will be a probe on the encounter, the focus of the nation shifted to UP where another rape victim is struggling for her life. The woman who was raped in December 2018, was attacked by five people including two accused of her rape, and was burnt alive on Thursday. The incident happened after the accused were released on bail. The woman who has suffered 90% burn is undergoing treatment at Safdarjung Hospital in Delhi, and her condition is said to be extremely critical.
