Yogi Adityanath took the oath of the CM’s office after BJP’s landslide victory in UP in 2017. After assuming the CM’s office, Yogi Adityanath declared his intention of making the state crime-free and ever since, he has been working towards achieving the same.
According to reports, a total of 139 criminals have been killed and 3,196 injured in encounters with the Uttar Pradesh Police since the advent of Yogi Adityanath’s government in 2017. However, in achieving this milestone, 13 police personnel have lost their lives, while as many as 1,112 sustained injuries.
Speaking about Yogi Adityanath’s zero-tolerance policy towards crime and criminals, Additional Chief Secretary, Home Department, Avanish Kumar Awasthi said: “On the instructions of the state government, strict action has been taken against notorious criminals, their associates, and mafia. From March 20, 2017, to June 20 this year, 139 criminals have been killed in police encounters and 3,196 injured. In these actions, 13 police personnel were martyred, while 1,122 were injured.”
“The government has a zero-tolerance policy towards crime, and organised crime has been eliminated so far,” Awasthi added.
The Additional Chief Secretary, Home Department also informed that until now, illegal property worth over Rs 1,574 crore has been seized in the state of Uttar Pradesh under the stringent Gangster Act. Out of the above sum, almost 1,322 crores worth of illegal property have been seized or demolished from January last year till now, Avanish Kumar Awasthi said.
Awasthi further informed that in the last four years of Yogi Adityanath’s tenure as a CM, over 13,700 cases have been registered under the Gangster Act, in which more than 43,000 people have been arrested.
According to official figures, the highest number of seizures were made in the Varanasi zone, where, as many as 420 cases were registered and property worth over Rs 200 crore were seized. In the Gorakhpur zone, in 208 cases, property worth Rs 264 crore was seized.
The Additional Chief Secretary, Home Department Avanish Kumar Awasthi also briefed that CM Yogi Adityanath has ordered to organise ‘Thana/Samadhan Diwas’ on every second and fourth Saturday of a month. On these days of the month, senior police officials and the administration would have to make sure they are available to hear the grievances of people and redress them. Everyone has been instructed to adhere to strict Covid protocols during these programs, Awasthi said.
Achieving this milestone was not easy for the Yogi Adityanath government as he had inherited a state surfeited with crime and criminals from the preceding Akhilesh Yadav, Mayawati and Mulayam Singh Yadav’s government.
Yogi, a five-time member of parliament knew that for bringing prosperity back to UP, for re-instating the trust of entrepreneurs in the state, he needs to fix the law and order of the state on priority. He took the task head-on. By adding 1.5 lacs police staff in the rank and file of the police force, Yogi, strategically brought history sheeters to book in each district and protected businesses from land grabbers and extortionists.
This enabled Yogi Adityanath to convince industrialists to come back and expand in UP. In the last 4 years, UP jumped miraculously to the 2nd spot in the Ease of Doing Business ranking, beating industrialized states like Tamilnadu, Maharashtra and Telangana.