Encounter Killings Peak in UP Under Adityanath Government in 2025

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh recorded its highest number of police encounter killings in eight years in 2025, with 48 alleged criminals shot dead, according to official data released by the state police. The figures have once again brought the Yogi Adityanath government’s policing methods under scrutiny, amid continuing concerns over extra-judicial killings and the erosion of due process.

The data, presented by Director General of Police Rajeev Krishna at a press conference in Lucknow, covers police operations carried out between March 2017, when Yogi Adityanath assumed office as chief minister, and December 29, 2025. It shows a sharp rise in encounter deaths during the current year compared to the previous two years.

In 2025 alone, the police conducted 2,739 operations across the state. During these actions, 3,153 accused persons were injured and 48 were killed. One police personnel also lost his life during these operations. Since 2018, a total of 266 accused persons have been killed in encounters, the data showed.

The figures reveal fluctuating but persistent use of lethal force over the years. While 41 accused were killed in 2018 and 34 in 2019, the numbers stood at 26 each in 2020 and 2021. The toll dropped to 13 in 2022, before rising again to 26 in 2023 and 25 in 2024. The 48 deaths reported in 2025 mark the highest annual count since the Adityanath government came to power.

Overall, between 2017 and the end of 2025, Uttar Pradesh Police carried out 16,284 operations, in which 10,990 accused were injured and 266 killed. During the same period, 1,783 police personnel sustained injuries and 18 died, according to official records.

Senior police officials have maintained that these encounters took place in self-defence and were conducted in accordance with the law, describing them as part of a “zero-tolerance” approach towards crime. However, civil rights groups, opposition parties and legal experts have repeatedly questioned this narrative, pointing to the absence of judicial oversight and the growing normalisation of encounter killings.

The latest data has renewed debate over policing practices in Uttar Pradesh, with critics arguing that rising encounter deaths reflect a reliance on force rather than strengthening investigation, prosecution and the criminal justice system.