'Pattern of encounters': Akhilesh says BJP has 'encountered' truth itself

Lucknow: Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Wednesday continued his attack on the BJP-led Uttar Pradesh government, terming the killing of crime accused persons in gunfights with police as "fake encounters".

The former chief minister and Kannauj Lok Sabha MP also sought to identify a "pattern of encounters" during the Yogi Adityanath rule, saying the BJP has "encountered the truth" itself.

"A pattern of encounters has been set in BJP rule: Pick someone first, then make up a story of a fake encounter, then show fake pictures to the world, then after the murder, when the family members tell the truth, pressurize them with various kinds of pressure and temptations, protect the top leadership by bringing forward its second-rate leaders when exposed by opposition political parties," Yadav said in a post in Hindi on X.

He continued, "Then use the media, which maintains the relationship of 'jiska daana-uska gaana' for propaganda. Then get your so-called big BJP leaders, who are experts in lying, to make irrational statements to justify such illegal encounters. Defame the real media by portraying them as surviving on opposition or foreign support, and when public anger grows, conduct a formal, superficial investigation and bury the matter." "The more the BJP with its forces try to prove such encounters to be true, the bigger lie that encounter actually is. BJP has encountered the truth itself," the SP chief alleged.

Earlier on Tuesday, Yadav had slammed the Uttar Pradesh government, saying statistics of encounters during the BJP rule are also statistics of the "injustice of illegal killings" and "injustice done against the PDA".

He also shared some data of "fake encounter killings", claiming that 60 per cent of those killed in gunfights with the police belonged to the PDA -- a combine of 'Pichde, Dalit and Alpsankhyak' communities (backwards, Dalits and minorities).

However, the data had no source mentioned.

While the SP chief has been critical of the state's "trigger happy" police in the past also, his latest attack stems from the recent killing of Mangesh Yadav, a suspect in the Rs 1.5 crore robbery at a jewellery store in Sultanpur, who died allegedly after a gunfight with the police.

He had previously also termed Mangesh Yadav's encounter as "fake" and alleged that it was done based on the basis of the accused's caste.

However, on Monday, UP Director General of Police (DGP) Prashant Kumar denied the allegations, saying no partiality is practised by the state police.

"Police do not do such things... When bullets are fired on police, those who have faced such situations, who are our former officers, all of them know about it... I deny all such things and the police take action completely impartially," he told reporters in Lucknow.