Police in India’s most populous state have shot hundreds of Muslim men accused of cow smuggling in the legs in encounters that critics describe as extrajudicial justice designed to pander to India’s Hindu majority, an Associated Press investigation found.
asserted
investigation → shoot → majority
Police in Uttar Pradesh say they shoot in self-defense and that the state’s “zero tolerance” policy on crime has helped restore law and order.
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policy → say → law
Now the tactic of shooting people just below the knee — known locally as “Operation Lame” — is spreading to other states in India, even as human rights lawyers, local judges and activists raise alarms about rule of law and religious bias in the world’s largest democracy.
asserted
lawyers → shoot → democracy
Hundreds of shootings follow a similar pattern
The Center for the Study of Organized Hate, a Washington-based think tank, compiled records of nearly 650 cases in which Uttar Pradesh police shot and injured suspects accused of cow smuggling since 2020.
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police → follow → 2020
They were shared exclusively with AP, which independently reviewed a sample of more than 200.
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which → share → 200
In case after case, suspects were shot in the leg, most often below the knee.
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suspects → shoot → knee
Police accounts described suspects fleeing, opening fire and being wounded when officers shot back.
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officers → describe → fire
Dr. Mohd Kaleem Khan, a forensic medicine professor in Uttar Pradesh, said a bullet passing horizontally through a fleeing person’s calf without striking bone would be highly unlikely, particularly from a distance.
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bullet → say → distance
He said such wounds suggest deliberate shots at close range.
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wounds → say → range
Over 90% of suspects injured in cow-smuggling-related shootings were Muslim, according to the center’s analysis of 627 cases with identifying information available.
uncertain
% → injure → information
“State institutions, particularly the law enforcement, are increasingly being used as the vehicles for the persecution of Muslim minority,” said Raqib Naik, executive director of the Center for the Study of Organized Hate.
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Naik → use → Hate
The findings almost certainly represent an undercount because the analysis is based only on incidents police themselves publicized.
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police → represent → incidents
Police say they act in self-defense
Amitabh Yash, a senior Uttar Pradesh police official, told the AP that police are instructed to respond only in self-defense, and said police in his state have killed and injured far fewer suspects, per capita, than police in the United States.
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police → say → States
Yash said there is no order to shoot suspects in the leg and added that he would investigate the consistent pattern of injuries if an appropriate complaint were lodged.
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complaint → say → injuries
He said the high proportion of Muslims among injured suspects accused of cattle smuggling reflected their prominence in the cattle trade.
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proportion → say → trade
“The police must be questioned for every action they take.
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they → question → action
Every action is open to scrutiny, whether it is a death or an injury,” he said.
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he → say → scrutiny
Muslims make up a disproportionate share of suspects killed
asserted
Muslims → make → suspects
Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s leadership, India has moved away from its founding as a secular democracy and toward a Hindu-first state.
asserted
India → move → state
In Uttar Pradesh, the chief minister, Yogi Adityanath, has positioned himself at the hard edge of this surging religious nationalism.
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minister → position → nationalism
Critics say his tough-on-crime approach amounts to a veiled attack on Muslims that panders to the hard-line Hindu vote.
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that → say → vote
From the time Adityanath took office as chief minister in March 2017 through Oct. 13 of this year, 316 suspects were killed in police encounters and 110 of them — around one in three — were Muslim, according to state police data obtained by the AP.
uncertain
110 → take → AP
That’s a higher proportion than the state’s overall population, which is around one in five Muslim.
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which → ’ → population
Over the same period, 12,890 suspects were injured, while 18 police were killed and 1,953 injured in the line of duty.
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1,953 → injure → duty
Data on the religion of suspects injured by police was not available.
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Data → injure → police
Yash, the senior police official, disputed allegations of religious bias.
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Yash → dispute → bias
“The police itself has all castes and religions,” he said.
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he → have → castes
“You cannot try to target one group.”
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You → try → group
Families say the shootings leave them destitute
The AP spoke with relatives of six Muslim men who had been shot in the leg by police.
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who → say → police
All spoke anonymously, fearing repercussions.
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All → speak → repercussions
The men remained in jail or in hiding.
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men → remain → hiding
Two mothers said their sons traded buffalo, which are outside cow protection laws.
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which → say → laws
They said their sons could no longer work, leaving their families dependent on handouts and small loans.
uncertain
sons → say → handouts
“He’s been left lame,” one of the mothers told AP.
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one → leave → AP
“If someone gives us something, we accept it.
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we → give → it
That’s how we’re getting by.
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we → ’ → ?
That poor man can’t go out and work anymore.
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man → go → ?
Whatever people give us, we eat.”
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we → give → us
___
Kinetz reported from Rome.
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Kinetz → report → Rome
Anika Seth and Rishabh Jain contributed to this report.
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Seth → contribute → report
The Aporia
