UP: 'Caste' Question Resurfaces As Cops Kill Robbery Accused In Encounter In Sultanpur

Anuj Pratap Singh, a resident of Janapur village in Amethi district and an accused in the August 28 robbery at a jewellery store in Sultanpur, was gunned down in a pre-dawn encounter with the Special Task Force (STF) of the Uttar Pradesh Police in Unnao district, officials said on Monday.

Anuj Pratap Singh's father Dharm Raj Singh alleged political motives behind his son's death, saying that he had only one or two cases against him and yet was encountered.

The 'Caste-Based' Encounter Allegations

The Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government has been accused of carrying out encounters motivated by the accused's "caste", a charge that prominently surfaced after the encounter of gangster Vikas Dubey in 2020 days after he and his men ambushed a team of police at his residence in Kanpur, killing eight policemen.

Last year, the Samajwadi Party shared on social media a list of alleged criminals claiming that they are "still alive, committing crime and running gangs" as they all belong to the same caste as Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath. The SP also alleged that it was the BJP people who got Umesh Pal, a key witness in the 2005 killing of then Bahujan Samaj Party legislator Raju Pal, murdered.

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In a post on X in Hindi, the media cell of the Samajwadi Party, had said in April last year, "The murder of Umesh Pal has been done by the BJP people. The BJP may have got an immediate opportunity to polarise the votes in the (ongoing) urban local bodies' elections and to (indulge in) communal frenzy, on the pretext of this murder. But, any BJP leader, no matter how big he is, will not be spared."

The SP "list" came a day after gangster-politician Atiq Ahmad's son Asad and his accomplice, accused in the lawyer Umesh Pal murder case of February 2023, were gunned down in a shootout with the Uttar Pradesh Police, which the party alleged was a fake encounter. Umesh Pal was a witness to the 2005 murder of BSP MLA Raju Pal, in which Atique Ahmad and his brother Mohammad Ashraf were main accused.

'Akhilesh's Wish Fulfilled': Sultanpur Criminal's Father

Prior to the Monday encounter of Anuj Pratap Singh, the STF on September 5 gunned down another accused, Mangesh Yadav, sparking a political controversy, with the Samajwadi Party and the Congress calling the encounter "fake".

Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav, who had claimed that such encounters were motivated by the accused's "caste", also dubbed the STF as "Special Thakur Force" and "Sar-e-aam Thoko Force".

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However, the ruling BJP had said Yadav's jibes were made out of "frustration" while the police denied his allegations.

In a post on X after the September 5 encounter, Yadav said, "It seems that the people involved in the Sultanpur robbery had deep ties with the ruling party. That is why before the fake encounter, the main accused was contacted and made to surrender and other accused were shot in the legs only for show, and one of them was killed on the basis of their 'caste'."

"When the main accused surrendered, all the looted goods should also be returned and the government should pay compensation separately," he had said.

Fake encounters turn the protector into a predator, he had claimed.

"The solution is not fake encounters but real law and order," Yadav further said.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had alleged in a post on X on September 7, "In the states ruled by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), 'law and the Constitution' are being violated by those who have the responsibility to enforce them. The death of Mangesh Yadav in an encounter in Sultanpur has once again proved that the BJP does not believe in the rule of law.''

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The Congress' state unit chief Ajay Rai had visited Mangesh Yadav's home and demanded that a high court judge investigate the matter.

UP Govt Shares Data Of Encounters

Days after former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav alleged that encounters in the state were being used to target people of specific castes, the Uttar Pradesh government last week released data of encounters over the last seven years has been published.

According to the data provided by the Uttar Pradesh Police, a total of 12,525 encounters have taken place in the state from 2017 till date, resulting in the deaths of 207 criminals and mafias and injuring more than 6,000.

The data also mentioned that of the 207 deaths, the highest were recorded in in Meerut Zone, where 66 criminals were killed, followed by 21 in Varanasi Zone and 16 in Agra Zone.

The data also mentioned that in these seven years, 17 police officers were killed in these encounters, while 1,500 were injured on the line of duty.

The data by the Uttar Pradesh police mentioned that, since 2017, the majority of those killed in encounters have been Muslims, Brahmins, and Thakurs. The data said that of the 207 criminals killed, 67 were Muslims (including Atiq Ahmed's son Asad and shooter Usman Chaudhary), 20 were Brahmins (including Vikas Dubey), and 18 were Thakurs.

The data also said encounters 16 criminals killed belonged to the Yadav community, which opposition leaders have alleged was the most targeted.

Further, the data also mentioned that among the total criminals killed in an encounter were 17 Gujaratis and Jats, 14 were Dalits, three belonged to Scheduled Tribes, two were Sikhs, eight were from other OBC groups, and 42 from other castes and religions.