Within a span of two days, the Uttar Pradesh Police in five separate encounters arrested six criminals.
On September 27, the police in Muffazarnagar arrested a man for possessing smuggling illegal liquor while another man was arrested from Charthawal town the same day for possessing live cartridges.
In Simbhaoli area also, the police at around 8:35 pm indulged in a gun-fight with the two criminals. One of the accused sustained an injury during the gunfight and was later arrested for possessing illegal weapons. The injured man identified as Rafiq had a bounty of Rs 25,000 on his head.
On September 28, the police in Bulandshahr held two criminals with Rs 25 thousand bounties on the head. Live cartridges were recovered by the Bulandshr police from the two accused.
In Pilkhuwa town also, another man was held by the police on September 28 for possessing illegal weapons. Another criminal present during the encounter is absconding and the police are making efforts to nab the accused.
On a closer look, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in June had lashed out the Yogi Adityanath-led government in Uttar Pradesh over a spurt in the rate of crime in the region.
"In Uttar Pradesh criminals are roaming freely and doing whatever they want. Criminal incidents are taking place one after the other. However, its BJP government has turned deaf. Has the Uttar Pradesh government surrendered before criminals?" she had tweeted.
However, the UP Police was quick to react and responded by saying, "UP Police has taken strict action against serious offenders. In two years, 9,225 criminals have been arrested and 81 have been killed. Illegal assets of more than 200 crore people have been seized under the National Security Act and there has been an unprecedented decline in dacoity, murder, loot and kidnappings,"
"Because of UP Police's effective working, there has been a 20-35 per cent decline in crimes. All sensational crimes have been solved in 48 hours," they added.
( With inputs from ANI )