UP STF denied promised promotion

Members of Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force who killed Lashkar militant Salar Jang in an encounter were promised out-of-turn promotion by the then Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav but they were not found “fit” by police authorities to get the reward.

The STF team had killed wanted Lashkar-e-Taiba(LeT) militant Salar Jang alias Doctor at Gosaiganj in Lucknow on March 8, 2006.

The encounter was carried out by a joint team of J&K Police and UP STF hours after the 2006 Varanasi blasts. Soon after the encounter, Mulayam Singh Yadav had recommended out-of-turn promotion for the STF members and showered accolades on them on the floor of the state Assembly.

Now in response to an RTI application, the UP Police headquarters said the promotion was not given to the policemen. It, however, accepted that a recommendation in this regard was received in 2007.

The police headquarters dicussed the encounter as per the laid-down procedure but after discussion, they “were not found fit for out-of-turn promotion”, the reply said. In May 2007, there was a change in the government and BSP ousted SP in Assembly elections.