Akshay Shinde, accused of raping two girls in a school in Badlapur, Maharashtra, died in a police encounter. Thane police said that the accused Akshay Shinde snatched the police's weapon and fired at the police in the car. Akshay Shinde was shot in the retaliatory firing by the police. He was admitted to the hospital in critical condition, but he died. Earlier, recently, in the Sultanpur robbery case, a criminal Anuj Pratap Singh, carrying a reward of Rs 1 lakh, was encountered. After the encounters at both the places, politics has intensified in the country regarding this. How did the series of encounters start in the country? How did it come into practice? Know the whole story of the encounter.
The British had their first encounter in India
The first recorded encounter in the country was that of Alluri Sitarama Raju, the hero of the Rampa rebellion in 1922, much before independence. He was killed by the police of the British Raj. This rebellion, also known as Manyam Rebellion, was a rebellion of tribes against the then British rule. This rebellion took place in the Godavari district of Madras Presidency.
Someone drowned in a pond, someone's car overturned and the game is over… Read the history of encounters and deaths in custody
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The hero of Rampa was tied to a tree and shot
The Rampa rebellion in Andhra Pradesh started in August 1922, which ended with Raju's death in an encounter in May 1924. At that time, the British police had to spend about 40 lakh rupees to capture Raju. After a search operation that lasted for several months, Raju was finally caught in the forest of Andhra and tied to a tree. Then the police team shot him from a distance and killed him.
18 thousand encounters, 200 deaths, has Uttar Pradesh become safe… Akhilesh again raised questions on encounters
3000 people were killed during Telangana movement
Before independence, the Nizam of Hyderabad suppressed many movements and got police encounters done of those who rebelled against him. After independence in 1947, many movements took place in Andhra Pradesh for the formation of a separate Telangana state. According to many reports, the state government massacred people involved in the Telangana movement with the help of the police. It is believed that 3,000 people were killed in police encounters. Encounters were a common practice from the 60s till the formation of Telangana. The word encounter was very much in discussion at the time when terrorism was flourishing in Punjab.
13 thousand encounters in 7 years of Yogi Raj in UP
According to media reports, there have been 12,964 encounters in UP between 20 March 2017 and 5 September 2024. Out of these, 207 criminals were killed. 17 policemen also lost their lives in the encounter. On an average, one criminal was killed in an encounter every 13 days. For these seven years, Yogi Adityanath's government has been in power in the state.
In the last 6 years, 813 people were killed in encounters in the country
According to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), in the last 6 years, 813 people were killed in encounters in India, that is, killed in police encounters. From April 2016 to 2022, on an average, one encounter was carried out every three days. Fewer cases of encounters were seen during the Corona period. It was 112 in 2019-20, which decreased to 82 in 2020-21. However, after this, there was an increase of 69.5 percent i.e. 139 cases in encounters.
After the Bikaru incident and the Umesh Pal murder case, the Sultanpur robbery case witnessed the biggest action of the UP police
Earlier, there have been reports of encounters in Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Ghaziabad.
According to Supreme Court advocate Anil Kumar Singh Srinet, encounter killings became common in the 20th century. This was heard and seen more after the police encounters in Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Ghaziabad. Most of the encounters were of underworld and ruthless killers. Later, there was an increase in them. Many of these encounters were fake and were surrounded by many controversies. According to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), the maximum number of fake encounters took place between 2002 and 2013.
Pending cases of encounter killings increased 5 times
In response to a question in the Rajya Sabha in March 2022, Union Minister of State for Home Nityanand Rai had informed that the pending cases of encounter were 25 in 2016-17, which increased five times to 124 by 2021-22. However, there was also a decline in encounter cases in these 7 years.
More than 1,000 fake encounters between 2002 and 2013
According to the NHRC, between 2002 and 2008, 440 cases of fake encounters were reported. Most of these occurred in UP (231), Rajasthan (33), Maharashtra (31), Delhi (26), Andhra Pradesh (22) and Uttarakhand (19). Whereas, between October 2009 and February 2013, the maximum number of 555 cases of fake or controversial encounters were reported. Of these, most such encounters took place in UP (138), Manipur (62), Assam (52), West Bengal (35) and Jharkhand (30). Between 2002 and 2013, there were SP and BSP governments in UP.
In the eyes of law, encounter or extrajudicial killing cannot be justified. It is possible that the state government is carrying out such encounters under pressure from the media and public sentiments, but the reality is that only the law and the court have the right to punish anyone. Be it a criminal or a common man, everyone has got the right to live under the Constitution. In such a situation, encounter is against the spirit of the Constitution.
Anil Kumar Singh Srinet, Advocate, Supreme Court
Chhattisgarh has seen the highest number of encounters in the last 7 years
From 2016 to 2022, the maximum number of encounters took place in the Naxal-affected areas of Chhattisgarh. After this, 110 encounters were conducted in Uttar Pradesh, 79 in Assam and 52 in Jharkhand. Ladakh is the only state where no encounter took place in these years. Gujarat, Rajasthan, Haryana, Punjab, Kerala are such states where very few encounters took place.
What is 'Operation Langda' in UP?
According to media reports, a large number of encounters were conducted in UP under the non-governmental mission Operation Langda. 3,300 criminals were injured in 8,472 encounters. That is, they were shot in their legs during the encounter. Later, the encounter also came to be called shootout, khallas etc.
Pradeep Sharma and Daya Nayak have the most matches registered in their names
Pradeep Sharma of Mumbai Police has the record of doing the most encounters, i.e. 312. Inspector Daya Nayak has the record of doing 83 encounters, Praful Bhosale has the record of doing 77 encounters, Ravindranath Angre has the record of doing 54 encounters, Sachin Waze has the record of doing 63 encounters and Vijay Salaskar has the record of doing 61 encounters. Films like Aan, Ab Tak Chappan, Batla House, Encounter The Killing, Khaki and Singham have been made in Bollywood in the name of these police officers.
Most encounters in Pakistan take place in Karachi
It is not that most encounters happen only in India. Large scale encounters happen in Pakistan too. According to the 2015 report of Human Rights Watch, there were 2,108 police encounters in Pakistan, in which 7 women and 6 children were also involved. Out of these encounters, the maximum 696 happened in Karachi. After this, the maximum encounters were done in Pakistan's Punjab province, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Between 2014 and 2018, 3,345 encounters happened in Pakistan.
Sultanpur robbery case: After Mangesh Yadav, now politics has started on Anuj Singh's police encounter, SP said – accounts are settled
Encounter is a violation of the right to life
Supreme Court advocate Anil Kumar Singh Srinet says that there is no mention of encounter or judicial killing in the Constitution. According to Article 21 of the Constitution, every person has the fundamental right to live. However, according to the Indian Penal Code, 1860, till now Section 96-106 states that under certain circumstances, encounter cannot be kept in the category of crime. This law applies to every citizen of the country, be it police or common man. If someone loses his life in self-defense, then it will not come under the category of crime. Provided it is proved that there was no motive behind the murder. The police also has the right to injure a criminal if he is running away or firing.
What guidelines has NHRC issued on encounters?
As per the 1997 guidelines of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC), Station House Officers (SHO) in all states and Union Territories are required to maintain proper records of encounter deaths.
- Immediate steps should be taken to investigate the facts and circumstances of the death of the accused.
- Since the police itself is involved in the encounter, it should be investigated by an independent agency like the State CID.
- Such investigation should be completed within four months. Hearing of such cases should be speedy.
- In such cases, if found guilty, compensation should be considered for the dependents of the deceased.
- In cognizable cases of culpable homicide not amounting to murder, an FIR must be lodged when a complaint is lodged against the police.
- Magisterial inquiry into all cases of deaths caused by police action must be conducted within three months.
- The Senior Superintendent of Police/Superintendent of Police of the district should inform the NHRC about the encounter within 48 hours.
