CM Yogi: Police trained to respond in language criminals understand

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday strongly defended his government’s law and order policy, saying the police have been empowered and trained to deal firmly with criminals when the situation demands it.

Addressing a public programme, Yogi said if criminals have the freedom to use bullets, the state has also given pistols to the police. “They have been trained to explain things to criminals in the language they understand,” he said.

The remarks come days after the Allahabad High Court expressed strong displeasure over the Uttar Pradesh Police’s “half encounter” practices. A bench headed by Justice Arun Kumar Deshwal said police officers were allegedly firing unnecessarily for praise, early promotions and social media publicity. The High Court observed that the right to punish an accused lies only with the judiciary, not the police.

Recalling the situation before 2017, the Chief Minister said Uttar Pradesh had witnessed more than 900 riots between 2012 and 2017. He claimed there was hardly any city that had not gone through curfews during that period. “There was no trader who had not paid extortion money. Crime dominated every sphere of life. In such circumstances, I was given responsibility and we decided on zero tolerance,” he said.

Yogi asserted that the law is equal for everyone. “If our own person commits a crime, the same law will apply to him as it does to mafias and criminals. Many people ask why the police fired bullets. If the police do not act, then how will law and order be maintained? Both cannot go together,” he remarked.

He said before 2017, incidents of riots and kidnappings were common and businessmen, doctors and traders were forced to pay protection money. According to him, youth and companies were migrating out of the state due to insecurity.