UP: Cop Killed In Alleged Encounter With Criminal; 7th Such Death In Yogi Adityanath's Govt

A 26-year-old constable, Harsh Chaudhury, was killed in Uttar Pradesh’s Amroha during a gunfight with a wanted criminal. Chaudhuri, who had joined the police force in 2016, died of bullet injuries soon after he was taken to the hospital.

What had happened?

According to Anand Kumar, Additional Director General (ADG), Law and Order, a police team chased a wanted criminal at around 7 to 8 PM in the evening of January 27 in Amroha’s Bachhraon area, after they received specific information. The culprit, Shivavtar, had as many as 19 criminal cases pending against him, reported NDTV. The criminal too was shot at in the encounter and died in the hospital.

“When police asked him to surrender he fired at the police party in which one of our constables Harsh Chaudhary was injured. He was immediately taken to the hospital where he died during the treatment,” Anand Kumar said.

Apart from a government job that will be given to one of the family members of the slain cop, a compensation of Rs 40 lakh to the wife and Rs 10 lakh to the parents has been announced by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

Other incidents

Another cop was killed months back during the notorious Bulandshahr violence over cow slaughter. Inspector Subodh Kumar Singh became victim to cow vigilantes and was killed by a mob as he tried to calm them down. The mob was furious over the alleged slaughter of cows and demanded that police take immediate action. Post-mortem report said that he suffered a bullet wound above his left eyebrow.

Subodh Kumar’s killing sparked a lot of outrage and triggered a huge political row, but days after this incident, another cop, 48-year-old Constable Suresh Vats, was killed as stones were hurled by protesters at vehicles which were returning from a large gathering that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had addressed. Allegedly, the protesters worked for the Rashtriya Nishad Party and were barred by the administration and police from visiting the rally venue.

Ever since Yogi Adityanath became Uttar Pradesh’s Chief Minister, 3,000 police encounters have taken place, in which 78 alleged criminals have been killed. Chaudhury was the seventh police officer to have been killed in all these encounters. A state funeral would be accorded to Chaudhuri, who was a native of Hathras district, The Economics Times reported.

These incidents raise a big question on the law and order situation of the state. While families of victims are offered large sums of money and jobs by Yogi Adityanath, it does not bring back their loved ones to life and the families remain scarred forever. It is important that instead of focusing on offering compensation to the families, the condition of law and order is taken care of, and it is ensured that no more violence takes place.

Also read: Bulandshahr Violence: Delhi Taxi Driver Arrested For Killing Inspector