‘Fake Encounter Killings...’: Akhilesh Yadav Blasts Yogi Government Over ‘PDA’ Injustice

Lucknow: Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav on Tuesday slammed the Uttar Pradesh government, saying statistics of encounters during the BJP rule are also statistics of the "injustice of illegal killings" and "injustice done against the PDA".

The former chief minister also shared some data of "fake encounter killings", claiming that 60 per cent of those killed in gunfights with the police belonged to the PDA -- a combine of 'Pichde, Dalit and Alpsankhyak' communities (backwards, Dalits and minorities). However, the data had no source mentioned.

Yadav coined the PDA ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.

"The statistics of encounters during the BJP rule are also statistics of the injustice of illegal killings and also of the injustice done against the PDA," Yadav posted on X on Tuesday evening in Hindi.

While the SP chief has been critical of the state's "trigger happy" police in the past also, his latest attack stems from the recent killing of Mangesh Yadav, a suspect in the Rs 1.5 crore robbery at a jewellery store in Sultanpur, who died allegedly after a gunfight with the police.

In another post Tuesday night, Yadav shared a bar chart on statistics of accused killed in "fake encounters".

The data showed that 125 (60 per cent) of those killed belonged to the PDA, 40 (19 per cent) to 'others' while data was unavailable for another 42 (21 per cent). The chart, however, mentioned no source of information.

The Kannauj Lok Sabha MP had previously also termed Mangesh Yadav's encounter as "fake" and alleged that it was done based on the basis of the accused's caste.

However, on Monday, UP Director General of Police (DGP) Prashant Kumar denied the allegations, saying no partiality is practised by the state police.

"Police do not do such things... When bullets are fired on police, those who have faced such situations, who are our former officers, all of them know about it... I deny all such things and the police take action completely impartially," he told reporters in Lucknow.