UP encounter death acquires caste overtones as Rahul Gandhi, Akhilesh Yadav seek probe on 'fake' shootouts

Lucknow: The death of Mangesh Yadav, an accused in a robbery case with a reward of Rs one lakh on his head, in an alleged encounter with the Uttar Pradesh police a few days back, has acquired casteist overtones.

Samajwadi Party (SP) president Akhilesh Yadav is alleging that only members of a particular caste (Yadav) were being targeted and leader of the opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi stated that the police were being used as a 'criminal gang' under the BJP government.

Akhilesh said that the mastermind behind the robbery at a jewellery shop in Uttar Pradesh’s Sultanpur town last month during which cash and jewellery worth Rs 1.5 crore were looted, Vipin Singh was asked to ‘surrender’ as he hailed from Thakur community.

Police had claimed that Mangesh Yadav and another accused in the incident were intercepted near Hanumanganj in Sultanpur district on Thursday and asked to surrender but they opened fire at the police. Manges was killed in retaliatory firing while the other managed to flee.

Mangesh’s family said that he had been picked up by the police from his residence three days before he was gunned down in the alleged encounter. A magisterial probe has been ordered into the encounter.

Vipin Singh, the mastermind behind the incident, had surrendered before a court on August 29, a day after the robbery.

The opposition was certain to make it an issue in the forthcoming by-elections on ten assembly seats in the state.

While the BJP and its alliance partners defended the encounter, the opposition leaders slammed the state government and accused it of violation of human rights and indulging in extra-judicial killings through fake encounters.

Rahul, in a post on social media, said that the encounter proved that the BJP did not believe in the rule of law. He also said that a professional force like STF (Special Task Force) was being used like a ‘’criminal gang’’ under the BJP regime and demanded a probe into all suspicious encounters in UP.

‘’Fake encounters have brought a bad name for UP in the country and abroad... people from a particular caste are being targeted,’’ Akhilesh said. Bhim Army founder and Lok Sabha member Chandrashekhar alias Ravan also sought an inquiry into the encounter.

UP chief minister Yogi Adityanath, however, hit out at Akhilesh saying that the criminals could also have killed customers at the jewellery shop and those killed could also have included a ‘Yadav’.

UP minister Om Prakash Rajbhar, while reacting to the opposition’s charge, sought to know if the police should open fire after ascertaining the caste of the criminals.