UP police conducted 14,000 encounters in last 8 years; max ops in Meerut Zone: Officials

The Uttar Pradesh police has conducted over 14,000 encounters, arresting more than 30,000 criminals and injuring over 9,000 in the leg during operations targeting fugitives and repeat offenders, in the last eight years, officials said on Thursday.

“Acting on Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s directives, the UP Police has maintained an aggressive crackdown on crime. Over the past eight years, 14,973 operations have been carried out, resulting in the arrest of 30,694 criminals. Of these, 9,467 who attacked the police were shot in the leg, while 238 were killed in encounters,” DGP Rajeev Krishna said.

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The maximum action took place in Meerut Zone in western UP, where 7,969 criminals were arrested, and 2,911 were injured. In Agra Zone, 5,529 criminals were arrested, with 741 injured; and in Bareilly Zone, 4,383 criminals were caught, with 921 injured. In the Varanasi Zone; police arrested 2,029 criminals and injured 620.

In the commissionerate areas, Gautam Buddha Nagar recorded the highest number of arrests with 1,983 criminals caught and 1,180 injured. In Ghaziabad Commissionerate, 1,133 were arrested and 686 injured, while in Agra Commissionerate, 1,060 criminals were arrested and 271 injured.

DGP Krishna further mentioned that since Adityanath took office, his top priority was to establish the rule of law and eliminate criminals from Uttar Pradesh. The Chief Minister had made it clear, “Criminals have no place in UP. They must either give up crime or leave the state.”

He said that in order to strengthen law enforcement, CM Yogi equipped the police with modern weapons and advanced training, while also boosting their morale. Thanks to these strict policies and continuous campaigns, UP is now considered one of the safest states in India.