Someone drowned in a pond, someone’s car overturned and the game was over… Read the history of deaths in custody and encounters

New Delhi : The controversy over the encounter of Mangesh Yadav of UP had not even subsided when his/her associate Anuj Pratap Singh was also killed in an encounter. The encounter issue is hot in UP, while the accused of the much talked about Badlapur sexual harassment case of Maharashtra, Akshay Shinde, was killed in an encounter on Monday. According to the police theory, he/she snatched the pistol of the police officer and fired and was killed in retaliation. The opposition is calling it a fake encounter. Encounters and controversies over them are not new in India. Political parties sometimes accuse of fake encounters based on religion and sometimes on caste. Let us look at some of the famous encounters that happened in recent times.

Badlapur case accused Akshay Shinde killed in encounter
Last month, the incident of brutality against school girls in Badlapur, Maharashtra sparked public outrage. A large number of angry people took to the streets. Under pressure, the Eknath Shinde government hastily formed an inquiry committee. Accused Akshay Shinde was appointed as a contract employee in the school on 1 August. Coincidentally, on 23 September, the same day when Anuj Pratap Singh, accused in the Sultanpur robbery case in UP, was killed in an encounter, Akshay Shinde was also killed in an encounter in Maharashtra. In both the cases, the family is accusing of fake encounters. The opposition is also raising questions on these encounters.

Two accused of Sultanpur robbery case killed in encounter
Last month on 28th August, a jewellery shop in Sultanpur, UP was robbed at gunpoint. A week later on 5th September, two accused were killed in an encounter. The accused named Mangesh Yadav died in the police encounter, while the other accused Ajay Yadav was shot in the leg. he/she is currently undergoing treatment. This matter has gained a lot of attention.

Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav accused the Yogi Government of carrying out encounters on the basis of caste. he/she said that Yadavs are being selectively killed. he/she raised the question as to why the Thakur accused belonging to the CM’s caste were not killed in the case? Akhilesh also visited Mangesh Yadav’s house. UP Congress President Ajay Rai also visited his/her house. The opposition’s attacks on the Yogi Government regarding the encounter had not yet become blunt when on 23rd September another accused of the Sultanpur case was killed in a police encounter. The accused’s name was Anuj Pratap Singh. This time, the father of the accused killed in the encounter cursed Akhilesh Yadav saying that now Thakur’s encounter has happened, now his/her heart must have got some relief.

Accused drowns while escaping from police custody in Assam
Exactly a month ago, on August 24, Tafazul Islam, the prime accused in the gangrape of a minor girl in Nagaon district of Assam, died by drowning in a pond. Although this was not an encounter, the accused died in police custody. According to Assam Police, the accused was being taken to the crime scene to recreate the crime scene, when he/she started running and jumped into a pond. The accused died by drowning.

Vikas Dubey Encounter
4 years ago, on 3 July 2020, a police team went to arrest a gangster named Vikas Dubey in Bikru village of Kanpur. There, Dubey and his/her army of goons shot dead 8 policemen including a DSP. This incident shook the Yogi government. The search for Vikas Dubey and his/her gang intensified. Dubey was arrested from Ujjain. he/she was being brought to Kanpur by road, but according to the police, the car in which Vikas Dubey was seated overturned on the way. According to the claim, after the car overturned, Dubey snatched a policeman’s pistol and started running and was killed in an encounter. Later, many criminals of Vikas Dubey gang also died in different police encounters. After this incident, the politics of UP became very heated. Opposition parties accused the Yogi government of targeting ‘Brahmins’.

There was a fake encounter of the accused of brutality against the veterinary doctor in Hyderabad
In November 2019, a veterinary doctor was gang-raped and murdered in Hyderabad. The criminals also tried to burn the body after the murder. After this incident, tremendous outrage spread across the country including Telangana. The police arrested 4 accused in this case, Mohammad Arif, Chintakuntla, Chennakeshavallu and Jol Shiva. On 6 December 2019, the police took the four accused to the crime scene for recreation of the crime. According to the police, there the accused tried to escape by snatching the pistol of the police and in this connection all the four accused were killed in an encounter. The news of the accused being killed in the encounter spread across the country like wildfire. A large number of people reached the spot and celebrated. The police was greatly applauded. The encounter case reached the Supreme Court and the apex court constituted a commission to investigate it. The investigation commission in its report termed the encounter as completely fake and recommended a murder case against the 10 policemen involved in it.

anandpal encounter
The Anandpal encounter that took place in Rajasthan in 2017 was also discussed a lot. A bounty of Rs 5 lakh was placed on this notorious gangster. Rajasthan police was failing to catch him/her due to which it was facing a lot of criticism. Ultimately, he/she was killed in an ‘encounter’ with the police in Salasar, Rajasthan.

Encounter of 8 terrorists who escaped from jail
In 2016, 8 SIMI terrorists escaped from Bhopal Central Jail in Madhya Pradesh. While fleeing, the terrorists also killed a police constable. Later, the police surrounded all these terrorists near a hill and killed them in an encounter.

Gujarat’s Ishrat Jahan, Sohrabuddin Sheikh, Tulsi Prajapati encounter
When Narendra Modi was the Chief Minister of Gujarat, many such encounters happened in the state which became very famous. Allegations of fake encounters were made. On 15 June 2004, Gujarat Police and Crime Branch killed 4 suspected terrorists in an encounter near a water treatment plant in Gandhinagar. These included Ishrat Jahan, a resident of Mumbra near Mumbai, her friend Pranesh Pillai alias Javed Sheikh and two Pakistani citizens Amjalali Rana and Zeeshan Johar. According to the police, all four were associated with the Pakistani terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Taiba. This matter also reached the court. Cases were filed against the police officers but all the policemen were honorably acquitted by the court.

The year after the Ishrat Jahan encounter, in 2005, Gujarat and Rajasthan police killed Sohrabuddin Sheikh in an encounter in Ahmedabad in a joint operation. Sheikh was accused of the murder of Gujarat’s then Home Minister Haren Pandya in 2003. Another accused in the same case and Sheikh’s sharp shooter Tulsi Prajapati was also killed in a police encounter in 2007.

batla house encounter
On 13 September 2008, the country’s capital Delhi was shaken by serial bomb blasts. Several blasts took place one after another in Karol Bagh, Connaught Place, India Gate and Greater Kailash. 6 days later, on 19 September, an encounter took place between the terrorists of Indian Mujahideen and the Special Cell of Delhi Police in Batla House located in Jamia Nagar. In this encounter, two terrorists Atif Amin and Sajid were killed. Two terrorists Arij and Shahzad were arrested by the police while fleeing. In this encounter, brave police officer of Delhi Police Mohan Chand Sharma made the supreme sacrifice. There was a lot of politics on this matter too. Allegations of fake encounter were made but it was proved in the court that the encounter was real. A film was also made on this incident which was a super hit.

Many other encounters were also famous
Apart from these, many other encounters were famous across the country. These include cases like the encounter of gangster Manya Surve in Wadala in 1982, encounter of sand mafia Pushpendra Yadav in UP in 2019, encounter of Dara Singh alias Daria in Rajasthan in 2006. Apart from this, many bandit leaders have also been killed in encounters at different times. These include the encounter of bandit leader Dadua in 2007 in Manikpur police station area of ​​Chitrakoot district of UP. Apart from Dadua, 5 of his/her companions were also killed in the police encounter.