In probably a first, mediapersons were invited by policemen in Uttar Pradesh to witness and film an encounter in which two persons were killed, reports ToI.
Local journalists in Aligarh district got a call around 6.45 am on Thursday from the police asking them if they were interested in "watching and filming a real encounter" to reach Machua village which falls under the Harduaganj police station.
When mediapersons descended on the place, which is around 25 km from Aligarh, they saw a team of cops, some of them wearing bulletproof jackets, corner and then eliminate two men — Mustakim and Naushad — who according to the policemen were armed and hiding in an abandoned building belonging to the irrigation department.
Mediapersons were kept at a distance of 100 metres from the encounter site and were not provided with helmets or bulletproof jackets. The cops claimed that the duo had fired 34 rounds before they were shot dead.
Aligarh SP (city) Atul Srivastava said Mustakim and Naushad were asked by a police team to stop at a checkpoint but they fled by opening fire.
"Harduaganj police station in-charge along with his men gave chase which made the two hide in an abandoned building, which was later surrounded by additional forces," said Srivastava.
Two .32 and .315 bore country-made pistols were recovered from the encounter site.
On why the media was invited to witness the encounter, Aligarh SSP Ajay Kumar Sahini said: "Nothing wrong in that. We wanted to provide first-hand information to the media".
The SSP added that they have orders from higher authorities to share details of each encounter with the media.
"This is part of our transparent approach and nothing was hidden. Everyone there was free to click pictures or record videos," Sahini said.
He also denied that the encounter was stage-managed, saying both the deceased were wanted for the murder of six people in the last one month, which were carried out on orders Etah councillor Sabir Ali who was arrested on Tuesday.
However, kin of Mustakim and Naushad alleged that the encounter was fake during a press conference in the evening. Mother of one of them claimed that her son was picked by the police from their home on Sunday morning.
Even since Yogi Adityanath government came to power in March 2017, more than 1000 encounters have taken place in which 66 people have been killed.
UP DGP OP Singh has defended the encounters saying it is a well-thought-out strategy for getting rid of hardened criminals.
