MP Police face scrutiny after 5 encounters in 1 month:Attempts to calm public anger by firing bullets in every case; the accused is shot in leg

Salman, accused of raping a six-year-old girl, was injured after a brief encounter with police and is now being treated at Hamidia Hospital. On the night of November 27, while the Gauharganj police were taking him into custody, the tire of their vehicle punctured near Kirat Nagar, about 30 km from Bhopal. Salman tried to take advantage of the situation and grabbed a SI’s pistol. Police fired in response, and the bullet hit him in the leg. He was soon caught again. This was the fifth such encounter in Madhya Pradesh in one month, all involving high-profile cases where public anger was intense and there were calls to ‘shoot’ the criminals. Just a day before this incident, the Chief Minister held a high-level meeting with police regarding the arrests of accused criminals. Experts say these encounters raise questions about whether the police are acting under political and social pressure or adopting a new, aggressive approach to crime. Dainik Bhaskar investigated all five encounters to uncover the facts behind these incidents. Those five cases, which brought ‘short encounters’ into discussion Car punctured, tried to escape
On November 21, 23-year-old Salman Khan, who raped a 6-year-old girl by luring her into the jungle on the pretext of buying chocolate, was absconding. A reward of 30 thousand was declared on him, and there was huge public outrage. After the Chief Minister’s reprimand, the police arrested him from Bhopal on the night of November 27. Around 3 AM, when the police were taking him from Bhopal to Raisen in a car, the car got punctured due to a nail. As soon as an attempt was made to shift him to a backup vehicle, Salman snatched the pistol of Sultanganj police station in-charge Shyam Raja and tried to fire at him. SI Rajak raised his hand in defense, causing two bullets to go into the air. Meanwhile, another team cross-fired and shot Salman, who was trying to escape, in the leg. The police station in-charge also sustained injuries in this skirmish. Injured Salman was admitted to Hamidia Hospital. Salman is now on 10-day police remand. Attempt to escape by faking a toilet break
On November 26, the police team was bringing Sagar Meena, accused of murdering a retired teacher, from the Jhabua border. This murder was conspired by the teacher’s maid and her daughter along with Sagar, out of greed for money. Between the Rawati and Rani areas, around 12:30 AM, Sagar faked a toilet break. As soon as the car stopped, he got out and tried to snatch the pistol from Station House Officer Anurag Yadav by pushing him. When TI Yadav tried to apprehend him, he pointed the pistol at him and started running. In self-defense, TI Satyendra Raghuvanshi shot the accused in the leg, causing him to fall injured. When asked to surrender, the accused opened fire
Kapil Yadav, a history-sheeter with a reward of 10,000, was absconding after attacking some people in a land dispute. On November 24, police received information that he was hiding at a brick kiln in Mohanpur. When the police team surrounded him and asked him to surrender, he started firing at the police. Police retaliated, and Kapil was shot in the leg. He was arrested with an illegal weapon. Kapil has about 12 criminal cases registered against him and has previously been charged under NSA. He started firing upon seeing the police
Police were searching for Manish Kariya, who had looted a petrol pump and the highway on November 19, and then fled after assaulting police constable Chandrakant Tiwari. On the morning of November 22, police received information that he was hiding in the forests of Dhanwahi. As soon as the police team arrived, Manish started firing. In retaliatory action, a police bullet hit his leg and he was apprehended. In this incident, a police personnel was also injured. When the accused were surrounded, they fired shots.
On October 27, BJP’s Backward Class Mandal President Nilesh Rajak was shot dead. There was widespread public outrage after the incident, and family members protested for 7 hours. Around 2 AM on the night of October 28-29, police received information that the accused were in the Kajrawara area. When the police surrounded them, the accused started firing. Police retaliated with four rounds of fire, in which accused Akram Khan and Prince sustained bullet injuries to their legs and arms. Both were arrested in an injured state. What is a ‘short encounter’?
Retired DSP Ashok Singh Bhadauria of MP Police, who has conducted over 100 encounters in his career, explains that a short encounter is a situation when an encounter-like situation suddenly arises between the police and the accused, and a retaliatory action has to be taken within a few seconds or minutes. It does not involve any long planning or a major operation instead, the police react immediately to the accused’s attempt to escape, attack, or snatch a weapon. Pressure and psychology behind the encounter
In these five police encounters, a clear pattern emerges – all these crimes were serious, and there was immense public pressure on the police for their arrest. In the Goharganj rape case, when the accused was not caught for five days, CM Mohan Yadav held a meeting of top officials including CS, DGP, ADG Intelligence at PHQ on November 6. He expressed deep displeasure over the failure to arrest the accused, after which Raisen SP was removed and attached to the Police Headquarters. Just one day after the meeting, the accused was not only caught but also encountered. Experts said – Pressure on police and public losing patience
Retired IPS NK Tripathi says, ‘In high-profile crimes, there is a lot of pressure on the police to catch the criminal. This pressure is at all three levels: public, media, and administration. In such a situation, if the criminal manages to escape from police custody, it is considered a police failure. Dangerous criminals are often armed, so in such cases, the police have to take action like an encounter for self-defense.’ However, Tripathi also adds, “The credibility of encounters is often questioned by human rights commissions and the judiciary. Police also conduct fake encounters many times, but this does not happen every time. It is also important to consider the police’s side.” Evidence is everything in the eyes of the law
Narendra Singh Chauhan, Senior Advocate of Bhopal District Court, says that evidence is everything in the eyes of the court. In the case of an encounter, the court gives its verdict based on the evidence presented before it. Many times, it has been found in court decisions that the police’s encounter theory is false. When such cases come before the court, they are investigated by court order. However, some police encounter cases are also true. Chauhan says that the police get a legal basis to open fire in 4 situations. Strategy to instill fear in criminals?
On condition of anonymity, some police officers said that in sensitive cases, the perception of ‘swift justice’ grows among the public. To curb rising crime and send a strong message to criminals, actions like ‘short encounters’ have to be taken. This keeps the fear of law and police among criminals, which is essential for crime control.