Overview
- The Uttar Pradesh government, in data released Monday, said police carried out 17,043 ‘encounters’ since 2017, with 289 suspects killed, 34,253 arrested, and 11,834 accused injured.
- Officials reported 23 fatal encounters in the first five months of 2026 and said cases involving children now draw the fastest response, with several accused shot dead within hours of alleged crimes.
- Meerut Zone recorded the most activity with 4,813 operations, 8,921 arrests, and 97 people killed, while Varanasi and Agra followed with 29 and 24 killings respectively.
- Eighteen police personnel were killed and 1,852 injured over the nine-year drive, which the government frames as a crackdown on gangs, mafia networks, and repeat offenders.
- The pace — about five encounters a day — has drawn rebukes from the Allahabad High Court, which in January warned the shootings had become routine and risked being used as punishment.