YOGI TAKES BATTLE TO CRIMINALS, POLICE CARRIES OUT 430 ENCOUNTERS IN SIX MONTHS

Act,” the officer said.

A DIG rank police officer, who himself has been involved in some of these encounters, said that a clear political message was given out by the Yogi government after it came to power to “make the criminals understand that it is the police whose writ will run in the state”.

“The morale of the police was quite low and that of the criminals high. Not just constables, even DSP rank officers were being beaten and heckled by local goons since the latter enjoyed political patronage. You can go through the official records and this will be confirmed. The recent trend (of encounters) is a natural fallout of this, as the criminals had lost the fear of policemen. To make sure that the criminals understood that the police would target them was necessary to uplift the police’s morale,” the officer said.

According to a 2015 report, which was released by the UP government in March 2015, 622 incidents of criminals attacking policemen were reported in the state after the Sama- jwadi Party came to power in March 2012.

A 27-year-old individual from Allahabad, who had joined the state police as a sub-inspector but resigned soon after, said the criminals had lost all fear of the police during SP rule. “During my first posting, I was heckled by a local criminal and I could not do anything as he was associated with an SP MLA. Soon thereafter I quit the service, for which I had prepared so hard. No officer should go through such an experience and it is good that such a trend is now changing,” he said.