New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Adityanath has come out in defence of his police for shooting dead a Yadav youth in a controversial “encounter” killing last week. The authenticity of the alleged “encounter” has been questioned by the family of the accused person as well as the Opposition parties.

Mangesh Yadav was shot dead by the Uttar Pradesh Special Task Force (UP STF) on September 5 in Sultanpur in an alleged encounter after the police accused him of being part of a gang that looted a jewellery shop at gunpoint in daylight.

Amid widespread outrage from the Yadav community in the state and the Opposition Samajwadi Party (SP), Adityanath has defended his police force.

“You must have seen that whenever one of their mafia proteges or a dacoit is killed by the police in an encounter, it seems like the police has placed its finger on their raw nerve, and then they start an outcry,” Adityanath said on September 8 (Sunday).

Speaking at a government function in Ambedkar Nagar ahead of assembly by-poll elections, Adityanath made the comments targeting the SP, which has not only questioned the authenticity of the Sultanpur “encounter” but also accused the government of targetting Yadavs through vindictive action.

The circumstances of Mangesh’s killing as well as his identity have triggered a political storm in the state. Mangesh’s family alleged that he was forcibly taken from his home by the police in the early hours of September 3 and kept in illegal custody for two days before he was shot dead........

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