In a major achievement for the Uttar Pradesh police, the Rampur police successfully shot a dreaded criminal, who is now accused of abducting, raping and brutally murdering a six year old girl in the district. The offender, Nazil, has been shot in both the legs in an intense encounter with the police, led by encounter specialist, IPS officer Ajay Pal Sharma, who is currently serving as the Superintendent of Rampur police.
In their statement to the press, the Rampur police confirmed that Nazil has been arrested successfully after being shot in an encounter with the police. Nazil has been accused of abducting a girl on May 7, and then raping and murdering her. As of now, the accused is admitted in a local hospital, following which he shall be officially sent to police custody.
For their tough action against the criminal, the Rampur police is being lauded greatly. However, at the centre of attraction is the Superintendent of Police in Rampur, Dr. Ajay Pal Sharma, who himself led the operation from the front. Who is this person and Why is he being hailed as the ‘Singham’ of Uttar Pradesh? Let’s have a look.
Dr. Ajay Pal Sharma is an IPS officer, who hails from Ludhiana, Punjab. Initially a dentist, he left the profession in to serve the nation as a diligent police officer. He joined the UP cadre of IPS in 2011, and has served in various districts like Ghaziabad, Hathras, Shamli, Gautam Buddh Nagar (Noida) and Prayagraj among others. Known as ‘UP’s Singham’ for his consistent involvement in encounter killings, Dr. Ajay Pal Sharma is extremely famous for his no nonsense attitude and has a thriving fandom on WhatsApp and Twitter.
However, Dr. Ajay Pal Sharma does not give himself any airs about the same. To quote his address to the media, ‘There is nothing special to like about the “encounter specialist” tag attached to my name. These encounters did not happen by will, it was just chance.’
He further added, ‘We want to arrest criminals, make recoveries and collect the maximum information on their hiding places, their other gang members, etc. This is the last option. We do not know what situation arises on the ground.’
Dr. Ajay Pal Sharma is an illustrious addition to the formidable and coveted league of encounter specialists in Uttar Pradesh, which finds its roots to the formation of Special Task Force in Uttar Pradesh in 1997-98, when crime rate was at an all time high in undivided Uttar Pradesh, and Kalyan Singh had just reclaimed power as Chief Minister. Following his nod to the scheme, the UP police, heckled and mocked for their lackluster attitude, soon became a household name, earning success with the encounter of notorious gangster Shri Prakash Shukla, shot dead on 22 September 1998 in a police encounter in Ghaziabad.
Years later, when Yogi Adityanath assumed the post of the CM following a thumping victory for BJP in the 2017 assembly elections, he gave his assent to police encounters. Once again criminals were in real trouble this time, and despite the brickbats received from the so called human rights activists for being unapologetic in their approach to curb crimes, the encounters have played a major role in controlling the law and order problem to a significant extent. Criminals in Uttar Pradesh have been surrendering to the police after Yogi Government tightened the law and order situation and prioritised that such the criminals be nabbed immediately. As such, officers like SP [Dr. ] Ajay Pal Sharma deserves all the applauses and commendations for their heroic operations and we hope that others are inspired by such examples as well.