Meet-and-greet events in UP are undermining criminal justice system and making society barbaric, say former top UP police officials

Amid the debate over the encounters in Uttar Pradesh after the state government released details of such operations, retired Director General of Police rank officials from UP on Saturday (June 6, 2026) said through the policy that the entire society is “barbaric”, adversely affecting the growth of the democratic system, adding that the encounters fundamentally undermine the criminal justice system and integrity.

“Unfortunately, our society has given social recognition to these acts of encounters. During Vice President Singh’s regime, the Maro Maro (hit) campaign was launched in the early 1980s. But for the first time in nine years, the state under Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) rule has made encounters a crime-control tool. In Ghaziabad, the victim must be brought to the family, where the victim must meet, the mother of his people must meet the mother. accepting the encounters as legal, moral acts, which is actually a barbaric medieval act, is an extrajudicial killing, a black chapter for society.(IPS) officer.

Sulkhan Singh, former Director General of Police (DGP), Uttar Pradesh, said that through the encounter, the state is normalizing violence, ultimately creating an atmosphere of vigilantism where society demands extrajudicial killings and house demolitions to satisfy basic desires for revenge and promotes “vigilantism through policing”.

“Encounters and bulldozing actions fundamentally undermine the criminal justice system by circumventing due process, fostering a culture of lawlessness and eroding confidence in law enforcement. These acts turn the police into judges and executioners, violate basic human rights and turn democracy into an autocracy. This goes against the constitutional guarantee of the right to a fair trial by an independent court and the presumption of normal violence in a society where the state requires extraordinary innocence. judicial killings and home demolitions as a gratification for the basic desires for revenge It violates the right to life and security, often targeting the marginalized population, 77 years ago, he warned the state institutions and Indian society against the same evil of the people’s morals of instant justice and argued that the former constitutional morality should be defended, UDGP director general, SGP police director told The Hindu.

On May 18, UP said in a statement that as part of its zero tolerance policy, the Yogi government has been cracking down on crime and criminals in the state continuously for the past nine years, during which 289 dreaded criminals were neutralized in encounters with the police.

“During this period, the police carried out a total of 17,043 encounters in which 34,253 criminals were arrested. A total of 11,834 criminals were injured in these encounters. At the same time, 18 policemen were martyred and 1,852 policemen were injured while fighting criminals,” reads the statement, which renews the current debate about the clash.

On May 30, days after the stabbing of 17-year-old Surya Pratap Chauhan sparked outrage and protests in Ghaziabad, the main accused in the case, Asad, was shot dead in a nighttime police encounter. The victim’s family and several Hindu organizations have demanded immediate arrest and meeting of those involved in the crime.

Published – 07 Jun 2026 09:36 IST