Uttar Pradesh's dreaded encounters and the caste undertones

Extra-judicial killings of alleged criminals in police encounters have become the new normal in Uttar Pradesh after Yogi Adityanath took over as the Chief Minister of the state.

Most of these “encounters,” like that of Atiq Ahmad or Asad Ansari, have also turned into hot political issues. But what is new about the recent Sultanpur encounter is that it has assumed a major caste-political overtone after Opposition SP leader Akhilesh Yadav attached a caste spin to it.

The encounters have a social dimension as most encounter victims are allegedly either Muslims or people from lower castes. Naturally, it is bound to assume a caste-political character, especially in UP, where every political maneuver acquires a distinct caste imprint. But the larger issue of extra-judicial killings by the state itself through a brazen violation of the rule of law is not being forcefully addressed.

The Sultanpur encounter

The Sultanpur encounter took place on August 28, 2024. Mangesh Yadav, one of the members of a gang that looted ₹1.5 crore worth of ornaments from a jewelry shop in the busy Thatheri Bazaar in Sultanpur, was killed in a police encounter. The police version was that he allegedly fired at the police when confronted later and was shot dead in retaliation.

But Akhilesh Yadav claimed that Mangesh Yadav was shot dead in cold blood in a fake encounter because of his caste. While three other members of the gang involved in the dacoity were just arrested or only shot in the leg, Mangesh Yadav was put to death because of his caste, Akhilesh alleged in a message posted on his X account on September 5.

"The BJP's rule has been a golden age for criminals. Until the pressure and anger of the people reaches its peak, the work of sharing the loot will continue. When it seems that the people are getting agitated, a show is made by effecting fake encounters. People understand everything," his statement said. After that message, the issue continued to simmer.

Encounter Raj

On September 9, 2024, while addressing a meeting in Ambedkarnagar, Yogi said, “The SP leaders start shouting when a dacoit under their patronage gets killed. The criminal could have been from any caste.” He went on to allege that SP provided patronage to mafia elements in every district when they were in power and they ran a parallel government.

Yogi claimed he had changed all that. Thus, he defended his government’s record on encounters.

SR Darapuri, a retired Inspector General of Police in Uttar Pradesh, told The Federal, “Under Yogi’s rule, extra-judicial killings had become state policy so much so that his regime acquired the tag of “encounter raj”. On more than one occasion, Yogi himself declared it as his government’s policy and even justified it. Though the Modi-Shah duo initiated the encounter policy in Gujarat, and many other states are also following suit, as far as the number of encounters is concerned, there is no parallel in any other state to what is happening in UP.”

Indian Express carried a report on August 13, 2021, quoting UP additional director general of police (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar, in which he said that between March 2017, (when Yogi assumed office as CM) and August 2021, the UP police shot at and injured at least 3,302 criminals in 8,472 encounters, with many of them sustaining bullet injuries on their legs. The death toll in these encounters was put at 146.

The senior police official also reportedly claimed that 13 police personnel were killed and 1,157 more were injured in these encounters.

Operation Langda

Now, according to Darapuri, the number of encounter killings in UP has crossed 200.

Darapuri said, “Only 1 or 2 per cent of them are real encounters and around 98 per cent of them are fake encounters.” Further, to prove his point, Darapuri argued: “In theory, if there is an exchange of fire between two parties, the probability of death on both sides should remain even. But police personnel seldom die in encounters. The police always claim that they come under fire from the concerned criminal and they had to fire back in self-defence. They even report injuries. But there are seldom reports of surgeries on the supposedly injured police personnel to remove the bullets. I raised an RTI enquiry to seek details of hospitalisation of policemen for bullet injuries sustained in encounters and the reply was that the policemen concerned were taken to hospitals for treatment and they were discharged the same evening! “

“Though it was not an official operation, the UP Police under Yogi had launched a quasi-official operation called ‘Operation Langda’, which literally means shooting in the leg with the intention of maiming people. As someone who had put in 32 years of service as a police official in UP, I know it is extremely difficult to shoot people in their legs, especially when they are running. The victims are first arrested, and then, to inflict fear in them, they are shot in the legs from a close range. Even in Mangesh Yadav’s case, his young daughter has told reporters her father was picked up from their house on that fateful day.”

Judicial guidelines

What about the role of the judiciary? Has it done anything effective to curb this state criminality?

Darapuri said the Supreme Court had laid down guidelines for police encounters as far back as 2014, and these guidelines are being breached in UP with impunity.

"As per these guidelines, a murder case should be registered in every case of encounter, and a magisterial enquiry should be conducted. But the lower judicial magistrates act like executive magistrates, or there is a customary departmental enquiry and everybody knows what the outcome of a police department enquiry into a police killing is going to be. As the heads of human rights commissions are appointed by the ruling parties, they are pliable and are unable to play their intended role as checks and balances within the system. The law should make an enquiry by an independent agency like CBI mandatory to bring down the number of encounters," felt Darapuri.

Political dimension

Regarding the social background of encounter victims, Darapuri further added, “The highest number of encounter victims of the Yogi regime are Muslims. The second highest are Dalits. Now, some OBC elements are also becoming victims. Rarely, some upper caste dons like Vikas Dubey of Kanpur get killed and that also triggers a socio-political backlash from the Brahmin community. But in the overwhelming majority of cases, it is the poor people from the lower caste who are targeted. This social divide is bound to assume a political dimension”.

Zaffar Bakht, a prominent resident in Prayagraj (Allahabad) told The Federal, “Earlier, only Muslims and Dalits used to protest separately. If a Brahmin like Vikas Dubey got killed, the Brahmins used to protest. Now, conditions are maturing for a convergence. OBCs are also raising their voice and it has the potential to turn into a powerful unified political rallying of OBCs, Dalits and minorities against the BJP. The political consequences for Yogi would be ominous.”

Mohammad Salim, a Left leader in Mirzapur told The Federal, “Unfortunately, the civil society is weak in Uttar Pradesh. It is the state and state alone which is preponderant. Outfits like PUCL are not strong here. Caste outfits are also not strong enough to take on Yogi on this issue. Among political parties, Mayawati never bothered about encounter killings, even when Dalits were killed. When she was the CM, she appointed one Brij Lal as DGP under whose cruel reign many encounters took place. As many dons had turned into pillars of SP under Akhilesh regime, the encounters were not many but his rule too was not entirely free from encounters.”

Seema Azad, the president of the PUCL in Uttar Pradesh, told The Federal that the court had already taken cognizance of the issue, and the PUCL had not been able to do much about it.

Samajwadi Party had its back against the wall after Moid Khan, a Muslim aide of Awadesh Prasad, the Dalit leader who defeated BJP in Ayodhya itself, raped a 12-year-old minor girl in Ayodhya. Another SP MLA also faced a rape charge. After the Sultanpur encounter, Akhilesh has, however, deflected the public wrath against his party to some extent.

Yogi was going full swing on ‘bulldozer politics’ and ‘encounter politics. After the Supreme Court indicted bulldozer politics as bulldozing of the rule of law and constitutional governance, Yogi is now constrained on one count. If Akhilesh succeeds in bringing about a major electoral social polarization on the question of fake encounters, Yogi can be deprived on the second count too.

Ironically, when both the RSS and the BJP are embarking on a major drive to make inroads among OBCs and Dalits, Yogi’s shortsighted encounter policy is working at cross-purposes.

As Left-wing leader Salim pointed out, “Akhilesh calling the Special Task Force of the UP Police as Special Thakur Force has already struck a positive chord in the right quarters.”

Glorifying encounters

The extra-legal phenomenon of fake encounters is not limited to UP alone. After the RG Kar rape and murder, to cover up TMC government’s collusion, Mamata’s nephew Abhishek Banerjee, who wields a powerful extra-constitutional influence over the West Bengal Government, openly called for encounter killings of rape offenders. In Tamil Nadu also, a criminal who was arrested from Andhra, was shot dead on Monday (September 23) after he allegedly fired at police. This is the third such encounter in the last three months since an accused in the murder of the Tamil Nadu BSP leader, Armstrong, was gunned down.

This phenomenon finds its reflection in popular mass culture, too, and this is the central theme of the upcoming Raijnikanth and Amitabh Bachchan blockbuster Vettaiyan. Not to be left behind, Bollywood is also coming up with a Sabir Shaikh film, A True Encounter. Glorifying encounter experts among police officials, such films justify police criminality.

Clearly, a more intensive national counter-offensive by the proponents of a civilized society is very much needed.