The Opposition on Thursday slammed the Uttar Pradesh government on the Bahraich encounter, saying the fake encounters have been conducted by the BJP government for a long time to cover up its failures.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav lashed out at the Uttar Pradesh government and the government is doing encounters to cover up their failure.

If encounters had been improving the law and order of the state, UP would have been way ahead of most states, Yadav said. He asked if permission had been taken for the procession, why wasn’t it carried out peacefully? “If they cannot handle such a small event, how can one expect them to safeguard law and order in the state,” he said.

He termed the incident unfortunate and said such incidents should not happen. Yadav said he stands with the families of the victims and will ensure they get justice.

The Samajwadi Party chief said the government is working on the policy of divide and rule, adding that he said the incident has not just happened, it was planned.

Hitting out at Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s government, Congress spokesperson Supriya Shrinate said law and order has collapsed in the state even the ADG of law and order has to walk carrying a weapon even 48 hours after riots, adding it means that law and order have collapsed in BJP-ruled state.

The Congress leader said, “We have been appealing to restore peace in UP.”

On the matter, Uttar Pradesh DGP Prashant Kumar said: “When the Police were taking the five arrested accused for weapons recovery near the India-Nepal border, the two accused tried to run away. As they tried to run away, shots were fired. During this, Mohammed Sarfaraz and Mohammed Talib were injured. Abdul Hameed, Fahim, and Abdul Afzal were arrested. Total five accused arrested.”

Earlier today, the UP Police shot two accused while they were allegedly trying to escape to Nepal. The injured accused, identified as Sarfaraz and Talib.

In a statement, the UP government said: “When the police team went to recover the weapon used in the murder based on the information given by the first two, they opened fire on the police with the weapons kept there. Both of them got shot in the retaliatory fire.”

Violence erupted in Bahraich on October 13 when 22-year-old Ram Gopal Mishra was shot dead during a Durga idol immersion procession. Following Mishra’s death, angry mobs set fire to several shops and vehicles.

Today, internet services were restored in Bahraich as local authorities continued their efforts to restore normalcy in and around Maharajganj.

Amid an escalation stand off between India and Canada, the Ministry of External Affairs on Thursday said that Canada failed to act on India’s request seeking extradition of Lawrence Bishnoi gang members.

Addressing in a press briefing, MEA spokesperson Randhir Jaiswal said that similar extradition requests of syndicates linked to the Bishnoi gang were made recently as well, but Canada has not responded yet.

The Ministry also furnished names of Gurjit Singh, Gurjinder Singh, Arshdeep Singh Gill, Lakhbir Singh Landa, Gurpreet Singh for extradition, stating that the members of the Bishnoi gang were among them.

Randhir Jaiswal said that the MEA had informed Canada about the Lawrence Bishnoi gang and its syndicates and requested their provisional arrest and extradition some years back, and also recently. Nonetheless, there has been no response from Canada so far, he continued.

The MEA spokesperson also reiterated that Canada did not share any evidence in connection with the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar. He stated that India has made their position very clear on this particular matter. He added that since September 2023, the Canadian government has not shared any shred of information with the MEA.

He said that Canada always brought forth freedom of speech as their argument whenever India sought action against anti-India and separatist elements.

Notably, the government’s statement came a day after Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau named gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, who was earlier mentioned by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) for being involved in the murder of Nijjar in September last year.

Justin Trudeau alleged that Indian diplomats were collecting information on Canadians and passing it to the Lawrence Bishnoi gang. While testifying before the country’s foreign interference inquiry, Justin Trudeau claimed that the Canadian agencies tried to work behind the scenes with India before he came out with the allegation in NIjjar killings.

In the same testimony, Justin Trudeau also acknowledged that his government only provided intelligence and no proof to India over the killing of Khalistani terrorist Hardeep Singh Nijjar on Canadian soil.

India-Canada diplomatic relations worsened earlier this week when Canada announced that top Indian diplomats in Ottawa were persons of interest, as far as its investigation into Nijjar’s killing was concerned. In retaliation, India dismissed Canada’s stand, and recalled six of its top diplomats from Canada, including High Commissioner Sanjay Verma.

The Uttar Pradesh asserted that two accused in the violence caused in Bahraich during a Durga Puja procession, were shot in an encounter on Thursday. The accused, identified as Sarfaraz and Taleem, were shot while they were fleeing to Nepal. The encounter occurred near the Handa Basehri area of Bahraich, close to Nepal. 

The accused were injured in their legs, and have been referred to the district hospital. Sarfaraz and Taleem are sons of Abdul Hameed, the main accused in the Bahraich violence case, where 22-year-old Ram Gopal Mishra was shot dead at the Durga Puja procession on October 13. Nearly five people were arrested after the encounter. 

After the encounter, Bahraich SP Vrinda Shukla said that five people have been arrested. She affirmed that two of the accused have been injured in police firing. She added that one of the injured is Mohammed Sarfaraz, the other one is Mohammed Taleem. 

After Abdul Hameed was accused of firing at Ram Gopal Mishra, his daughter Rukhsar, who is a landlord in Bahraich said that the UP Special Task Force (STF) detained her father, her two brothers and another young man at 4 pm on Wednesday. She added that her husband and her brother-in-law were also picked up by STF. Rukhsar further said that they have not received any information about them from any police station, and the family fears that they may be killed in an encounter.

Reacting to the encounter, the Congress has attacked the Uttar Pradesh government, claiming that it is just trying to cover up its failure. Congress chief Ajai Rai said that the government has been doing fake encounters ever since, and are trying to cover up their failure. 

Akhilesh Yadav, Samajwadi Party chief also slammed the Yogi Adityanath led government, raising questions over the law and order situation in the state. He said that if law and order was improving only through encounters, Uttar Pradesh would have progressed in many areas by now.

He added that this is the failure of the government, the police and the administration. He questioned that if the concerned authorities are not able to manage a village function then how will they manage the law and order of the state, adding that all they do is encounter and scare people.  

A few hours after the Bahraich violence took place, CM Yogi Adityanath in a X post vowed to provide justice to the victim’s family. The Chief Minister had said that the culprits of this extremely reprehensible and unforgivable incident will not be spared at any cost.