Operation Langda: Three districts, three encounters, same story

In Newslaundry’s ongoing investigation into Uttar Pradesh police’s alleged ‘half encounters’, also known as ‘Operation Langda’, we chart three such incidents – all with similar stories.   

In all three cases, the police allegedly secretly picked up the accused, and a few days later, staged a ‘half encounter’ – where the accused are shot in the leg – based on a pre-planned script. For this story, visits were made to Kanpur, Aligarh, Mathura, and Greater Noida in Uttar Pradesh. 

Our first stop was Kanpur. On January 11, 2025, around 2.30 pm, the victim’s family claims that some policemen came to their home, intimidated them, took the keys to their vehicle (an Eeco van), and then drove the vehicle away. Later that night, around 10 pm, the police charged its owner, Pranshu Sonkar, with multiple offenses and, during an encounter, shot two young men in the leg.

However, the family claims that Sonkar, whom the police say was involved in the encounter, was working in Kota – about 550 km from Kanpur – on that day. Moreover, the family provided Newslaundry with CCTV footage of the police taking the vehicle, as well as evidence proving Sonkar’s presence in Kota at the time.

Next, we visited Ali Ahmadpur village (also known as Garhi) in Gautam Buddh Nagar. The police from the Pisava police station in Aligarh district reportedly arrested 26-year-old Harish on January 25 while he was with some friends in Jahangirpur town. Later, in a ‘half-encounter,’ he was shown shot in the leg. But when the police were taking Harish away, many villagers claimed to have seen him. Relatives and villagers allege that when the police were taking Harish while beating him, the entire incident was captured on several CCTV cameras. However, shortly thereafter, police officers in two vehicles took away the DVRs containing footage from every CCTV in the area. They even took the DVR from a nearby mosque’s CCTV. Meanwhile, the FIR filed by the police tells a different story.

A similar story emerged in the case of Somesh Gautam from Mathura. This BTech student was shot by police on the night of September 6, 2022, citing an encounter as a reason. Although the police portrayed Gautam as part of the encounter, our investigation revealed that when Somesh was taken away, he was living in Shakarpur, Delhi. The moment when the Jevar police were taking him away was recorded on CCTV. Later, however, an FIR was also registered against 12 police officers involved in this operation.

Watch.

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