UP: 2 Men Shot By Police In Noida For Alleged ‘Enmity’; 4 Policemen Suspended, 1 Arrested

Jitendra Yadav along with Sunil and his other two friends were returning late night, after attending an engagement ceremony in Barhampur, near Ghaziabad. On their way, four policemen stopped them in Sector-122 and shot Jitendra and Sunil. Jitendra was shot in the neck, he is in a critical condition, and his friend was shot in the leg.

Jitendra’s family blamed the police personnel, saying that their family member was shot without any reason. The family claims encounter, while the police are saying that the policemen and Jitendra had some personal issues which led to such incident.

On the other hand, Vajeshni Yadav, Jitendra’s relative said that the cops in their area had been targeting young men for past couple of days. In an NDTV report, he said, “My elder brother, uncle and two friends were in the car,” when the policemen stopped them at 10; 30 pm,” then they started hitting and abusing Jitendra Yadav”.

He further added that the policemen hit and shot Jitendra due to caste bias because when Jitendra asked them why he was being beaten, they pointed out his caste.

Vajeshni concluded that the policemen had earlier came to Jitendra’s shoe store and asked for money, when he refused, they ended up doing this.

In a press conference, Luv Kumar, Senior Superintendent of police said, “Prima facie, it looks like a case of personal enmity. During the probe, it was found that the trainee sub-inspector knew the elder brother of the man who was shot.” The gun belt belonging to the accused inspector, Vijay Darshan had been handed over to the forensic lab for tests, he added.

For now, the four policemen are suspended, and the sub-inspector is under arrest.

The Logical Indian condemns the actions of Noida Police staff of shooting civilians to avenge their enmity. The police’s duty is to protect the civil society from unlawful elements. Where would the common man go when unlawful elements, disguised in Khaki uniforms, attack them? Overreach of policing by corrupt officials in not unknown. Civilians are killed in broad daylight, their murder termed as ‘encounter’.

Earlier this month, an 8-year-old boy was shot dead by Uttar Pradesh police when they were in the middle of an “encounter” to kill alleged criminals in Mathura’s Mohanpura village. Madhav’s grandfather said he was playing outside with his friends when he was shot in the head.

The Times of India reported the UP police resorted to as many as 15 shootouts in 48 hours on Friday evening. Director general of police OP Singh said that as many as 24 criminals were caught and one gangster killed in the encounter. In less than 6 months CM Adityanath has been in power, the UP police have conducted 420 encounters with alleged criminals, killing 15.

Not only encounters, but deaths in police custody is also prevalent. In November last year, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) issued a notice to Maharashtra Director General of Police (DGP) in the case of a prisoner’s murder in police custody.

In response to an RTI filed by Firstpost, it was revealed that a total of 894 deaths in judicial custody and 74 deaths in police custody had been recorded in India in 2017.

The police are supposed to be the gatekeepers of law and order, and breach of law from their side is highly condemnable. It is essential that the powerful do not use their might for wrongful purposes.