Our law & order model changed ‘sab chalta hai’ attitude: Special DG L&O

Uttar Pradesh has been a tough state when it comes to manning law and order. However the situation is witnessing change with a no-nonsense policy towards the mafia.

On Thursday, Asad Ahmed, the son of gangster Atiq Ahmed was gunned down in connection with the ,. This is the third encounter in the case since the murder took place on February 24.

OneIndia caught up with Special DG Law and Order, Uttar Pradesh, Prashant Kumar who said that a free hand without any political interference in the working of the police has installed a sense of security among the people.

When asked about how tough it is to man UP, which is ridden with gangsters and criminals, he said that it takes time for any system to improve. "After the initial problems there is a take-off stage. There is an incremental increase in the action that is being taken and that is apparently visible," he said.

"In UP for long there was a normal saying, 'sab chalta hai.' This is changing today and criminals and gangsters cannot continue to terrorise the people of the state," he said.

"The position that we have taken is that there will be zero tolerance towards crime and we should demolish them both economically and legally. We have been given a free hand by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to clean up the system," Special DG Kumar also said. While giving a free hand, he also propped up people who were capable f doing this, he said.

In UP, a 'no nonsense' approach has been followed. When the CM said, 'mafia ko mitti me mila denge,' he meant that everyone will be accountable.

When asked if the comments made by some questioning the encounter bothered them, Kumar said that ultimately it is the society at large which is benefited.

Speaking further about the problem of the mafia in Uttar Pradesh, Special DG Kumar said that these persons interfered in everything including internal problems, tenders, mining just to name a few. "Earlier a big company could not take a contract without paying off these gangsters. However now the situation has changed.

On the allegation that the UP police is targeting only the minority community, Special DG, Law and Order, Kumar said that this is false. Till date since Yogi Adityanath took over as CM, 183 encounters have been taken place. In the police action that we take, we do not distinguish religion, region or caste, he added.

"Those who are hurt of killed in encounters are hardcore criminals. All the agencies are working as per the directive of the CM of zero tolerance against crime and criminals," he added.

Official data also shows that 183 criminals had been killed, while 5,046 of them had been arrested. Further the data also shows that 13 policemen had been martyred during the past six years, while 1,443 of them had been hurt. The maximum numbers of criminal killings took place in 2018, when CM Yogi Adityanath was re-elected.