Extrajudicial killings in India are not a recent phenomenon; they have been extensively documented throughout the country for many years. However, the current government led by Yogi Adityanath in Uttar Pradesh has been supportive of police actions against individuals who are believed to have violated the law.
On April 13, 2023, two individuals, including the son of a gangster and former MP Atiq Ahmed, were killed by Uttar Pradesh police during an "encounter" in Jhansi. The incident is a recent case in point.
During broad daylight on February 24, 2023, Umesh Pal, a lawyer, was shot dead in front of his home in the Dhoomanganj region of Prayagraj, while Asad Ahmed was accused, along with six other individuals, of being a shooter in the 2005 murder case of BSP Lawmaker Raju Pal, in which Atiq Ahmed was a key suspect.
In addition to Ahmad and Ashraf, four other individuals listed in the FIR filed in the murder case of Umesh Pal, including Asad Ahmed, Arbaaz, Vijay Chaudhary alias Usman, and Ghulam have also been killed.
On February 27, Arbaaz, who was believed to have been the driver of the SUV transporting the attackers and was one of the seven individuals that appeared in the CCTV footage of the murder of Umesh Pal, was killed in an encounter.
An altercation in Prayagraj on March 6 resulted in an encounter of shooter Vijay Chaudhary, alias Usman. Similarly, another encounter led to the demise of Asad Ahmed and Ghulam on April 13 near Jhansi, in which the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Team was involved.
The other three shooters, Armaan, Sabir, and Guddu Muslim, are currently missing. Former SP legislator Atiq Ahmad feared for his life, stating that he would be targeted by the Uttar Pradesh Police while being taken from Ahmedabad prison to Prayagraj.
Atiq Ahmad had recently sought protection while in custody for the murder of Umesh Pal; he filed an appeal with the Supreme Court a month before his son Asad and assistant were killed. Currently, two of Atiq's sons, Umar and Ali, are in detention. The police are keeping a close eye on his two young sons, who are being held at the Children Protection Home.
The Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, Yogi Adityanath, has not shown much concern over police encounters in the state. Instead, he portrays the police's actions as a commitment to uphold his pledge to protect voters during the 2022 UP assembly election. His aim was to make Uttar Pradesh a peaceful state and secure the safety of ordinary people from criminals and land speculators. Throughout the 2022 election campaign, he was known as "bulldozer baba" for his reputation of ordering the demolition of property owned by those the state considered to be history-sheeters, gangsters, and rioters.
The police encounters were also used to illustrate Yogi's image as a CM who does not tolerate criminality. This has allowed the government to cultivate a brutal reputation in dealing with criminals, to the extent that BJP supporters celebrate police encounters.
The normalization of organized police killings as a legitimate crime control strategy in Uttar Pradesh is primarily due to the state administration's vocal support and widespread social acceptability. The absurdity of the police narrative is often overlooked, as killing is accepted in society as a means of preventing crime.
The narrative that "since the deceased was a criminal, it was okay for the police to bypass the rule of law" is repeatedly propagated, undermining the fundamental concept of the legal system. This creates a situation where the police are taking the law and order into their own hands.
As per news reports, approximately 8,472 police shootings have taken place since March 2017, resulting in 146 deaths and bullet wounds to 3,302 individuals.
A report titled "Extinguishing Law and Life: Police Killings and Cover-Up in the State of Uttar Pradesh," produced by three civil society organizations (Youth for Human Rights Documentation, Citizens Against Hate, and People's Watch), investigated 17 cases of alleged extrajudicial killings in the state. The incidents took place between March 2017 and March 2018, resulting in 18 deaths. The report found that there were significant irregularities in each of these investigations, and due process was violated in each case.
The report was supported by legal and government records, most of which were provided by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). The study reveals that none of these incidents have resulted in FIRs against the police officials who are alleged to be involved, indicating how the state deals with such issues. Instead, FIRs were lodged against the victims in each case, accusing them of offenses such as attempted murder (under Section 307 of the Indian Penal Code). The study argues that this was done to provide evidence of the police account of the deaths being "in self-defense."
The UP government published a report in September 2019, two and a half years after coming to power, listing 4,604 police encounters that led to 94 criminal deaths and 1571 criminal injuries as a government success in controlling crime.
Another account of encounters in UP was tweeted by the Uttar Pradesh Police on December 6, 2019, stating that "103 criminals killed and 1859 injured in 5178 police engagements in the last more than 2 years. 17745 criminals surrendered or canceled their own bails to go to jail."
During Yogi Adityanath's six-year tenure as Chief Minister, the Uttar Pradesh Police reported that they had killed 183 accused criminals in encounters, including the son and accomplice of gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad, who were killed in a gunfight in Jhansi.
According to a report by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), they received around 93 complaints of fake encounters. The NHRC notes that there were only four complaints of fake encounters in 2016-17, which increased to 44 in 2017-18.
According to data from the UP Police, more than 10,900 police encounters have occurred in the state since March 2017, when Adityanath became Uttar Pradesh's Chief Minister for the first time. In these encounters, 23,300 accused criminals were detained, while 5,046 were injured. Data provided by the UP Police also suggests that 1,443 police officials were injured in these incidents, and 13 were killed.
A press note released by the United Nations on 11 January 2019 raises concern over reports of at least 59 extrajudicial executions by police in Uttar Pradesh since March 2017. The issue has been highlighted by four UN human rights experts. On January 14, 2019, the Supreme Court of India was expected to hear arguments in a number of cases.
The experts have sent detailed information to the Indian Government on 15 of the cases, mostly concerning individuals from Muslim communities living in poverty.
Evidence indicates the killings took place in police custody. In all of the cases, the police said the killings were during encounters and in self-defense.
Former IPS offices have strongly condemned the recent killings. The Mooknayak contacted former IPS officer Amitabh Thakur for his comments on the alleged planned encounters in Uttar Pradesh. Thakur described the recent killing of Atiq Ahmed and Ashraf Ahmed as a "very well-planned and well-executed murder." He added that there could be links to this murder at very high levels and called for a thorough CBI inquiry under the supervision of the High Court or Supreme Court.
Regarding the encounter of Atiq's son Asad and his accomplice Ghulam in Jhansi, Thakur noted several discrepancies. The statements of Deputy SP Navendu Kumar and the photographs circulated by the STF did not match, and there were many dissimilarities between the actual incident and the police statements in the FIR. Thakur and others have filed a complaint with the National Human Rights Commission regarding this encounter.
Thakur was also asked about social media posts that praised the Uttar Pradesh government's tough action on criminals and were in favor of the encounters. He responded that a few influential political parties had individuals in IT cells that controlled Twitter and other social media platforms. He called them "totally unconnected with real situations" but capable of influencing the opinion of the entire nation. Thakur added that the government and police were very active in announcing their achievements and laurels in press conferences and social media. However, they provided no real information on these encounters and killings, which could increase confusion and suspicion that they could be state-sponsored crimes.
The Mooknayak also spoke to S.R. Darapuri, a retired IPS officer and human rights activist who expressed doubts about the veracity of encounters happening in such large numbers in Uttar Pradesh. He noted that, in his opinion, no more than 100 encounters should occur in a year. He called for judicial inquiries rather than magisterial ones, as the former are less likely to be biased.
Darapuri argued that the high number of encounters did not effectively reduce crime and could result in the real perpetrators going unpunished. He cited Uttar Pradesh having the highest numbers of rape and murder cases as evidence that the encounters were not having the desired impact.
He criticized the police for the recent killing of Atiq Ahmed in front of armed escorts and in full view of the public. He called for the police to arrest the criminals, pursue the case, and collect evidence to bring culprits to justice. Darapuri added that encounters undermined the constitution and law and harmed people's faith in the justice system.
An ex-DGP from Uttar Pradesh, who requested anonymity, also spoke to The Mooknayak and labeled Atiq Ahmed's killing as a shocking incident that reflected negatively on the police's functioning.
Indian laws do indeed empower police personnel and civilians to kill another person, provided the right to legitimate self-defense is involved.
However, Article 21 of the Constitution says:
Protection of life and personal liberty- No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty except according to a procedure established by law.
Although, there is no provision in Indian law that directly authorizes the encounters of criminals, however, there are certain enabling provisions that may be interpreted differently to bestow police officers with certain powers to deal with criminals.
The Supreme Court of India in its landmark judgment Peoples Union for Civil Liberties v. State of Maharashtra [(2014) 10 SCC 635] observing that this “encounter” philosophy is a criminal philosophy, had warned policemen that they would not be excused for committing murder in the name of “encounter” on the pretext that they were carrying out the orders of their superior officers or politicians.
With inputs from Pratikshit Singh
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