A senior police officer Suneet Kumar Singh from Uttar Pradesh's Jhansi district has reportedly been suspended after an audio recording of him talking to a criminal about his "impending encounter" went viral earlier.
As soon as we got to know about the video which went viral on social media, we suspended Station House Officer Suneet Singh. Also have plans of expelling him from service.OP Singh, UP DGP on the viral video
Singh, in an eight-minute long audio recording, is allegedly heard telling Lekhraj Yadav – accused in a number of murder, kidnapping and extortion cases – that his name is on top of the UP police’s encounter list, reported NDTV.
According to the news channel, he told Yadav that he should “manage” local BJP leaders like Babina lawmaker Rajiv Singh Paricha and BJP's District President Sanjay Dubey, if he wanted to save himself.
The alleged criminal, who is currently out on bail, reportedly claimed that he had the conversation with the officer on Friday, 13 April.
“I have never spoken to this police officer. He himself has a chequered past. Why would he drag me into this? However, this conversation shows that criminals are scared of the government’s resolve to eliminate crime in the state” Paricha told NDTV.
The cop is also allegedly heard warning Yadav that he was being tracked. He also is reportedly heard saying that a “smart man” like Yadav must understand the "system”.
“In the last 14 years, how many encounters have happened? But now there is a system... top officers, special forces and almost everybody from top to bottom is on it...” Singh said and allegedly told Yadav that he was next.
Earlier in March, speaking in the House during the Zero Hour, Adityanath pointed said that the encounters will not stop.
It is unfortunate that some people are showing sympathy toward criminals. This is dangerous for democracy. The Noida incident which took place on 3 February, in which Jitendra Yadav was hit by a bullet, was not a police encounter, and police does not count it as an encounter. Even the person affected had endorsed it.
A total of 40 criminals have been gunned down in 1,200 encounters since the BJP formed a government in the state, and this will continue, the chief minister said.
The Indian Express, quoting data from DGP office, said that 1,142 encounters were recorded between 20 March 2017 and 31 January this year. In the 25 preceding 9 February, eight people were killed in 60 encounters across districts.
(With inputs from NDTV, the Indian Express)
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