New Delhi: The Uttar Pradesh government has informed the Supreme Court that there is regular monitoring of police self-defence action in which accused persons have died and, in all encounters, which have taken place since 2017, the details of criminals killed and results of the inquiry are collected and scrutinised every month at the police headquarters level.
On August 11, the apex court asked the Uttar Pradesh government to submit a comprehensive affidavit on the progress of the investigation in 183 encounters in the state since 2017. A bench comprising justices S Ravindra Bhat and Aravind Kumar widened the ambit of plea seeking an independent probe into the killing of gangster-politician Atiq Ahmed and his brother in police custody. Advocate Vishal Tiwari, who is one of the petitioners in the matter, has raised the issue of 183 encounters in Uttar Pradesh since 2017.
The Uttar Pradesh government, in the status report, said, “There is regular monitoring of police self-defence action in which accused persons have died. In all the police encounters that have taken place since 2017, details related to the killed criminals and the results of the investigation/inquiry are collected and scrutinised every month at the police headquarters level."
The report said regarding the legal disposal of the investigation of the cases registered in connection with police encounter incidents and the disposal of the magisterial inquiry, proper monitoring is ensured from time to time by issuing appropriate instructions to the zonal Additional Director General of Police and Police Commissioner at the police headquarters level.
“Requests have also been made to the Uttar Pradesh government by the headquarters level from time to time regarding speedy disposal of magisterial inquiries into incidents of death in police encounters," said the report. The report added, “Regular review is done at the police headquarters level after receiving information from all zones/commissioners regarding investigation/magisterial inquiries of cases registered about criminals killed in the actions taken by police in self-defence and ongoing inquiries by the National Human Rights Commission."
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The report said the office of the State Crime Records Bureau in Uttar Pradesh's Lucknow while monitoring the incidents related to deaths in police encounters, sends information about all the incidents to the National Human Rights Commission every six months. The last half-yearly report dated July 11, 2023, was submitted by the State Crime Records Bureau to the NHRC.
Regarding the alleged encounter of Asad Ahmad, Atiq’s son, and Mohd Ghulam, which occurred on April 13, 2023, the state submitted that no lapses were found in the police version, and the final report was submitted to the court, and in the magisterial inquiry, no police personnel has been found guilty. Regarding Atiq and his brother's murder, the report said a three-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) was constituted by the Commissioner of Police, Prayagraj headed by Additional DCP Crime (Additional Superintendent of Police) for the investigation of the case on April 16, 2023, and investigation by the SIT commenced on April 17. During the investigation, the accused individuals, Sunny Singh alias Purane Singh alias Mohit, Lavlesh Tiwari and Arun Kumar Maurya, were arrested and interrogated.
The report said the accused individuals committed the crime with common intention and before the incident, they had stayed in a hotel based on forged Aadhaar cards. The State government said it is leaving no stone unturned to ensure a fair and impartial investigation into the incidents, which include the murder of Atiq Ahmad and his brother Ashraf, and the sweeping allegations levelled against it are completely false and unjustified.
The report said in addition to the active investigation into specific cases, the state has also established a five-member Judicial Commission led by Justice (Retd) Dilip Babasaheb Bhonsle. The Commission's inquiry is progressing, with the members scheduled to meet again on October 8, 2023.
Another petition has been by the sister of Atiq Ahmed and Ashraf Ahmed seeking a comprehensive probe headed by a retired judge or by an independent agency into the alleged "extrajudicial killings" carried out by the government. The plea filed by Aisha Noori also seeks an investigation into the encounter killing of her nephew and Atiq Ahmed's son.
