NDA leaders on Tuesday mounted a sharp defence of the Uttar Pradesh Police after Maharashtra Samajwadi Party chief and MLA Abu Azmi alleged that the Ghaziabad encounter — in which the prime accused in a murder case was shot dead — was driven by religious bias. The political clash has intensified debate over policing methods in Uttar Pradesh and the use of encounters as a law-enforcement tool.

The Encounter and Azmi's Remarks

The controversy centres on the killing of Asad, the key accused in the murder of 17-year-old Surya Pratap Chauhan, who was allegedly stabbed to death on Bakrid in the Khoda area of Ghaziabad. Asad was shot dead in a late-night police encounter on Saturday, triggering an immediate political storm.

Abu Azmi publicly questioned the operation, describing it as 'extremely wrong' and alleging that encounters in Uttar Pradesh are selectively carried out on religious lines. 'Normally, there is no firing involved during an encounter, except in rare cases. But this has become a model. Criminals should be punished... however, in Uttar Pradesh, this is being done based on religion,' Azmi said. He further claimed: 'If someone kills a Muslim or a Yadav, then the encounters don't happen. However, if a Hindu is killed by a Muslim or Yadav, then they are caught in encounters as soon as possible.'

BJP's Rebuttal

BJP Rajya Sabha member Dinesh Sharma rejected the allegations, arguing that the police had no choice when faced with an armed criminal. 'I would like to ask Azmi, if someone comes before you and starts firing, will you first ask whether he is a Hindu or a Muslim before taking action? Why have the police been given weapons? They have been given weapons for self-defence and for the protection of society,' Sharma said.

He maintained that the UP Police operates without discrimination and that its actions have bolstered public confidence. 'I believe the Uttar Pradesh Police acts impartially, and there is fear among criminals. At the same time, a positive environment has been created across Uttar Pradesh for ordinary citizens,' he added.

JD(U) Voices Back the Government

JD(U) National Spokesperson Rajiv Ranjan Prasad turned the criticism back on the opposition, questioning why leaders such as Tejashwi Yadav and Abu Azmi appeared sympathetic to criminals. 'Abu Azmi should first study the actions taken against criminals in Uttar Pradesh before making such statements,' Prasad said, urging the opposition to support the law-and-order framework built under Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath rather than view crime through the prism of caste and religion.

JD(U) Chief Spokesperson Neeraj Kumar also dismissed the religion-encounter link, invoking the case of gangster Vikas Dubey — himself killed in a police encounter — to argue that criminality carries no caste or religious identity. 'How can encounters be carried out based on religion? What was the blood group of Vikas Dubey? Such statements only benefit political opponents. A criminal is a criminal,' Kumar said.

The Broader Political Context

This is not the first time encounters under the Yogi Adityanath government have drawn political fire. Critics — primarily from the Samajwadi Party (SP) and allied formations — have repeatedly alleged that police encounters in Uttar Pradesh disproportionately target minorities and backward-caste individuals. The government and its NDA allies have consistently denied this, pointing to a broad reduction in reported crime as evidence of impartial enforcement. Notably, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has in the past taken cognisance of encounter deaths in the state, underscoring that the debate has institutional as well as political dimensions.

With assembly elections on the horizon in several states and UP remaining a key political battleground, the Ghaziabad encounter is likely to remain a flashpoint. The question of due process versus operational necessity in police encounters is expected to resurface in both legislative and judicial forums.