UP mandates videography of sites, testing of cops’ weapons in new encounter rules

The Uttar Pradesh Police has issued fresh guidelines to promote greater transparency and accountability in encounters with alleged criminals.
In a letter to district police chiefs, state top cop Prashant Kumar issued 16-point guidelines, including the videography of the encounter scene in cases where the alleged criminal has died.
The fresh directions mandated hand washing samples from the alleged criminals involved in the encounter and ballistic testing of the weapons recovered from them.
Over 50 people have been killed in police encounters since Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s second term that began on March 25, 2022. In September this year, Samajwadi Party chief and Lok Sabha MP Akhilesh Yadav hit out at the government after the killing of Mangesh Yadav, an accused in the Sultanpur robbery case, in a police encounter.
After the incident, the Kannauj MP questioned the style of working of the state police and accused the BJP government of “ruining” the force.
The letter by Kumar mandated the police officials to ensure that the post-mortem of the person who died in the encounter should be conducted by a joint team of two doctors, and the post-mortem process must be videotaped.
In his letter, Kumar further directed the police officials to ensure that the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) team must take photographs of the crime scene and conduct a reconstruction of the scene and that all evidence must be included in the investigation, with appropriate documentation, including photography and videography.
Kumar also directed the district police chiefs to ensure that weapons used by the police officials involved in police action should be surrendered and sent for examination after the encounter.
In cases where the accused are injured, either mildly or seriously, hand wash samples from the criminal and ballistic testing of the weapons recovered from them must be conducted, the fresh guidelines by DGP Prashant Kumar highlighted. It further added that medical reports of both the police officers and the criminals involved in cases of injury should be attached to the Case Diary (CD).
Kumar’s guidelines also referenced the Supreme Court’s directives issued in connection with the petition filed by the People’s Union For Civil Liberties (PUCL) in the Supreme Court for ensuring certain standards and norms in case of police encounters.