Uttar Pradesh’s encounter model has rekindled discussions across the country. The number of police encounters and their outcome during Yogi Adityanath’s regime has sparked fresh controversy.
According to sources, there have been a total of 17,004 police encounters in Uttar Pradesh in the nine years since Yogi Adityanath became the Chief Minister. 289 criminals were killed in these clashes. At least 18 policemen were killed in the attack. 11,834 criminals were injured and 34,253 were arrested in police operations.
Encounters are nothing new in India. Be it the operation against Naxalites in West Bengal in the 1970s or the police operation against Khalistani militants in Punjab, encounter deaths have come to the fore many times before. But the most talked about state in the last decade is Uttar Pradesh.
Since Yogi Adityanath became the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh in 2017, the police have stepped up their crackdown in the state. According to the government, crime has reduced in the state as a result of the tough measures. But human rights activists and opposition groups are questioning the transparency of the encounter. The matter reached the Supreme Court several times and the court sought a response from the Uttar Pradesh government.
After the Baruipur incident, two incidents of clashes with the police in Uttar Pradesh’s Fatehpur and Ambedkar Nagar have fueled controversy. The police claimed that the dead and injured included murderers, rapists, robbers, mafia and various notorious criminals.
Uttar Pradesh government claims that common people feel safe now due to strict law and order system. Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has often said that criminals now dare not torture any woman or daughter in Uttar Pradesh.
The recent passage of the Anti-Hooligan Act in the West Bengal Assembly has also brought the crackdown on hooliganism in Uttar Pradesh back into the spotlight. After Yogi Adityanath became Chief Minister, timely amendments were made to the British-era Goonda Suppression Act in Uttar Pradesh. Special forces are formed in each district to carry out operations against notorious criminals.
In 2020, the death of notorious criminal Vikas Dub in an encounter in Kanpur brought Yogi Sarkar’s model to the forefront of national discussion. Vikas Dub is accused of killing eight policemen in Kanpur. Later he was arrested from Ujjain in Madhya Pradesh and brought to Kanpur. He was shot dead by the police while escaping.
Uttar Pradesh police claim that the government’s strict policies have reduced the crime rate in the state. State Director General of Police Rajeev Krishna, citing data from the National Crime Register, claimed that the crime rate in the country was 252.3 per lakh population against 180.2 in Uttar Pradesh.
However, opposition parties have raised questions about the encounter from the beginning. There are also disputes over the caste and religious identity of the dead and injured. According to critics, between 2017 and 2025, 67 Muslims, 42 OBCs, 20 Brahmins, 18 Thakurs, 16 Yadavs and 14 SCs were killed in clashes with the police.
Samajwadi Party chief and former chief minister Akhilesh Yadav has accused the Yogi government of retaliating against Muslims and OBCs. He claimed that real criminals are being protected by framing innocent people in false cases.
The Baruipur incident has brought Uttar Pradesh’s encounter politics and strict police model to the fore not only in West Bengal but across the country. The question of how much harsh measures are acceptable in the name of maintaining law and order and where are the limits of human rights is gaining renewed importance.