Encounters in 7.5 years: 49 of 207 criminals shot by STF

The criminals gunned down by the STF included Asad, son of mafioso Atiq Ahmad, and three other members of his gang in February and March 2023, and dreaded criminal Vikas Dubey, who was involved in the killing of eight policemen, including a deputy superintendent of police, in Bikru village in Kanpur, and four other members of his gang who were involved in the ambush attack on a police team on July 2, 2020. The remaining 158 criminals have so far been gunned down in separate encounters with different district police units.

The STF has taken swift action against drug peddlers, arms smugglers, cyber criminals and those involved in leaking examination papers of various recruitment tests.

The press release said the UPSTF arrested over 7,000 notorious criminals while 49 were gunned down in various police operations, dealing a major blow to organised crime in the state. In addition, significant quantities of illegal weapons, narcotics and prohibited animal hides and bones were seized. The STF also used its intelligence network to foil over 559 criminal incidents before they could happen, further demonstrating its proactive approach.

ADG (STF and Law & Order) Amitabh Yash said that the STF is conducting a continuous campaign to curb crime and arrest criminals across the state in line with the directives of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to abolish all forms of organised crime. “Since March 2017, the STF has arrested a total of 7,015 notorious and wanted criminals, with 49 criminals killed in retaliatory firing during encounters during this period. A bounty of ₹10,000 to ₹5 lakh,” he stressed.

The ADG said that through heightened vigilance and alertness under the state’s zero tolerance policy, several criminal incidents have been prevented before they could happen, including serious crimes such as kidnapping, robbery and planned murders of public representatives, prominent persons and ordinary citizens. In addition, 3,970 criminals involved in organised crime were arrested during the same period, he added.

The press release said that in the last seven and a half years, the STF has taken action against 926 bosses and solvers of 193 gangs to eliminate exam-related malpractices like cheating and paper leakage. This has significantly increased the credibility of the Yogi government among the youth. In addition, 379 cyber criminals were arrested who were involved in various cyber crimes.

In a separate campaign against illegal arms smuggling, the STF arrested 189 criminals and recovered 2,080 illegal weapons and 8,229 illegal cartridges. Similarly, the STF cracked down on liquor smuggling and arrested 523 smugglers who were smuggling alcohol from states like Punjab and Haryana. A total of 80,579 cases of alcohol, 330,866 litres of hard liquor and 7,560 litres of processed liquor were seized in these operations.

DSP STF Deepak Singh reported that the agency arrested 1,082 persons involved in illegal drug trade and seized a large quantity of narcotics including 91,147.48 kg ganja, 2,054.651 kg charas, 19,727.1 kg doda/poppy, 7.06 kg morphine, 723.758 kg heroin, 21,521 kg heroin, 181.012 kg opium, 6.1 kg brown sugar, 6.938 kg methadone and 280,899 banned drugs. Vehicles used to transport these substances were also seized and appropriate legal action was initiated.

In addition, the STF arrested 170 criminals from various gangs involved in poaching and smuggling of prohibited wildlife. The recoveries included 341 kg of turtle neck, 2 pangolins, 1 tiger skin, 18 kg of tiger bones, 2 elephant tusks, 8,011 turtles, 4,922 prohibited birds, 1 hyena skeleton, 20 gray langurs, 1 leopard skin, 4.12 kg of ambergris, 4 wild boar teeth, 563.1 kg of red sandalwood, 44 ivory items, 25 leopard teeth, 24 leopard nails, 110 jackal horns, 140 Indrajal plants, 1 tiger skeleton, 1 python and 1 snake. Vehicles, cash and other items used in these illegal activities were also recovered. During the same period, the STF conducted a total of 2,670 meritorious operations.

Measures to combat cyber threats are having an impact

The Yogi government has taken significant measures to combat cybercrime in the state, including setting up 18 regional cybercrime police stations, digital forensic labs and cyber helpdesks in all police stations in the state.

The STF has taken decisive action against cybercriminals and arrested 379 people linked to various cybercriminal activities. In particular, the STF arrested a gang of 16 cybercriminals who robbed an associate professor of SGPGI of approximately 100,000 euros. ₹2 crore, besides busting one of the largest online fraud gangs in the state, arresting 105 members and seizing about 200,000 data points from major companies like Reliance Future, Exide, Birla Sun Life, Max Life, PNB Met Life, HDFC Agro, Paytm Online Shopping, Shyclues and Flipkart that were used to carry out their fraudulent schemes.

DSP (STF) Deepak Singh said that 225 major cyber criminals were arrested in Gautam Buddha Nagar alone, followed by 116 in Lucknow and 9 in Ghaziabad. The campaign also resulted in the arrest of five cyber criminals each from Prayagraj, Agra and Delhi and one criminal each from Pratapgarh, Jaunpur and Kanpur Nagar. In addition, four cyber criminals were arrested in Fatehpur and Gorakhpur and three others were arrested in Rajasthan.