Encounter in Kairana: Fight against crime continues – Despite all the rhetoric by the anti-BJP lobby post the by-poll results, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath has remained undeterred in his fight against the mafia and other miscreants active in the state. The revitalized UP Police has continued its efforts to make UP a secure state. Kairana had made it to headlines for all the wrong reasons in 2016, even as Hindu families were forced to flee the area due to hostile elements. But with the change in government, it seems Kairana is at the centre of Yogi’s struggle to make UP a secure state, as opposed to the lawlessness under which it has lived for decades.
Another encounter in Kairana
On 15th March, another encounter took place in Kairana, which is part of the Shamli district. Intense firing took place between police forces and criminals. A total of 22 rounds were fired from both the sides, as a result of which two miscreants surrendered before the police. According to the Superintendent of Police Ajay Pal, the Police will be able to identify and examine the criminal records of the miscreants after carrying out a thorough investigation.
Series of encounters in Kairana
This is not the first time that the police attacked the most feared gangsters in Kairana. In fact, the UP Police has been involved in several encounters, and many arrests have also taken place in the Shamli District over the past few months. In January this year, an encounter had taken place in Kairana where the police gunned down two ‘wanted’ criminal carrying bounties of Rs.1,00,000 and Rs.12,000. This included Shabir Ahmed, one of the most feared gangsters in Kairana. In another successful encounter by the UP Police since Yogi Adityanath has been at the helm of affairs, Mohammad Furqan, member of the dreaded Mukim Kala gang, was injured and apprehended by the police in April last year. The dreaded gangster was involved in extortion activities in Kairana, and the infamous exodus of Hindus from the region.
Kairana returning to normalcy
The fact that the rule of law is returning to Kairana is evidenced by criminals who were spotted carrying placards which said that they would not commit crimes in the future, and that they will work hard to sustain themselves. Later, theses criminals also submitted affidavits to that effect to the Superintendent of Police Ajay Pal Sharma.
The locals also tell a heartening story of how chief minister Yogi Adityanath has ensured that Kairana is no longer a fearful town to live in. What the UP Police and the chief minister have achieved in a short span of time is nothing short of a miracle.
In fact, the traders in the region corroborate that while they had become accustomed to extortions and murders in the previous regimes, Kairana has become virtually crime free under the Yogi government. Before the Yogi era, the problem in Kairana was not limited to crime and lawlessness but also to political patronage towards a particular community. According to the locals, criminals from the community in question enjoyed a free run. In fact, the region had seen a shift in demographics post 2001, with Hinds being reduced from a majority of 52% to minority of around 30% by 2011.
In the last one year, the town has witnessed the resettlement of families which were forced to migrate during to the infamous exodus. Around 12 to 15 families have returned to Kairana, and have been welcomed by a much better and secure atmosphere. While Mukim Kala, involved in the exodus, languishes in jail, most of the gang members have either been apprehended or killed by the police. There is no fear in the city, and the families living in Kairana are no longer trying to sell their properties and flee the town. “Nayi sarkar me mahol badla hai (the atmosphere has changed under the new government)” is a popular phrase in Kairana.
It was anticipated by some overenthusiastic Yogi-baiters that post the by-poll defeat, Yogi will soften down. However, the recent encounter has proved all of them wrong. It seems that the spate of arrests and encounters, and the crackdown on the criminals and the mafia active in the state, will only get stronger. Uttar Pradesh is fast moving towards an ideal crime-free state from a gangster-controlled state, where electoral arithmetic no longer impedes the government’s will to maintain the rule of law.
