'If the police don't fire, should they get shot instead?': Yogi Adityanath on encounters in Uttar Pradesh

His remarks came days after Allahabad High Court’s sharp rebuke on the rising trend of police shooting the accused in the legs during alleged encounters

Lucknow: Days after the Allahabad High Court’s sharp rebuke on the rising trend of the police shooting the accused in the legs during alleged encounters, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday said the police had been trained to make the "criminals understand in a language that they understood".

‘’Police agar goli na mare to kya goli khaye … dono kaam ek saath nahin chal sakte (If the police don't fire, should they get shot instead? … both can’t go on simultaneously)," Adityanath said after inaugurating a Pharma Conclave here.

‘’If criminals have the freedom to fire, then the police too have the same freedom … the police have been given pistols and training to deal with criminals the way they understand,’’ he added.

The Chief Minister’s remarks came days after the Allahabad High Court came down heavily on the State government over the rising trend of the police shooting the accused in the legs. The court had then said that senior UP police officers had been "pressuring" judges, especially chief judicial magistrates, to pronounce "specific orders".

‘’Look, we cannot allow UP to become a police state,’’ the court had said. The court had also said that police officials were conducting encounters to get promotion and praise.

Adityanath said there used to be riots before 2017 in the State and businessmen were leaving the State. ‘’Now, all that has stopped,’’ he said.

The Chief Minister said the State government had adopted a policy of "zero tolerance" in dealing with crime, and added that the government did not discriminate in dealing with criminals. ‘’No one will be allowed to take the law into your own hands,’’ he added.