Lucknow: Questions are being raised on the encounters in Uttar Pradesh, especially on the encounter of Mangesh Yadav, a criminal with a bounty of Rs 1 lakh in Sultanpur. People are asking how the encounter took place without a bulletproof jacket and slippers? Apart from this, questions are also being raised about Mangesh Yadav's caste.
STF Chief clarified: STF Chief Amitabh Yash spoke to Aaj Tak on this and answered all the questions. He said that STF has been formed to take action against criminals. The team takes action according to the circumstances. He said that many times STF people used to go for intelligence operations wearing vests and lungis, hence special clothes are used in jungle operations.
Photograph issue: On the questions being raised about the encounter photographs, Amitabh Yash said that the photograph is from the morning, whereas the encounter happened at 3:30 in the night. The officer said that his shoes were covered in mud, so he wore the slippers kept in the car. This is not a big issue, because the STF prepares for every situation.
Caste is not an issue: On the discussion about Mangesh Yadav's caste, Amitabh Yash said that criminals do not have any caste. He told that STF solved the murder case of two RPF jawans, whose names were Javed Khan and Pramod Kumar. No one's caste is considered while taking action. Police and criminals have the same fraternity, and that is crime and justice.
Encounter process: Amitabh Yash said that whenever action is taken against a criminal, the police tries to arrest him and collect evidence. But if the criminal fires at the police, the police also retaliates. The training of STF is also done accordingly. He said that two RPF jawans were killed in a very brutal manner and the criminal could not be expected to surrender. Ghazipur Police and STF tried to arrest the criminal, but he was killed.
Clarification on out of turn promotion: On the allegations of out of turn promotion, Amitabh Yash said that this rule has not been in place in Uttar Pradesh for the last eight years. No one gets out of turn promotion. The award or reward is given equally on arrest and on killing of a criminal in an encounter, but the award is given only after the investigation is completed after the encounter.
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