Allahabad HC orders reports from UP, Jaipur Police over accused’s encounter

The Allahabad High Court has sought reports from senior Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan Police officers over conflicting accounts of a theft accused’s arrest in Jaipur and subsequent encounter in Firozabad, after his wife alleged he was injured in a fake encounter

Prayagraj: The Allahabad High Court has sought reports from senior officers of the Uttar Pradesh Police as well as the Rajasthan Police after conflicting versions emerged regarding the arrest of a theft accused from Jaipur and subsequent inquiry into a police encounter in Firozabad.

A division bench comprising Justice Ajay Bhanot and Justice Divesh Kumar Samant passed the order while hearing a writ petition filed by Riya Gautam, the wife of the accused, Awadhesh. Accordingly, the high court directed the additional director general of police (ADGP), Agra Zone, to file his personal affidavit regarding the encounter. It simultaneously directed the commissioner of police (CP), Jaipur, to send a report concerning the incident.

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The petitioner’s husband was working at a company in Jaipur. The petitioner-wife had complained to the Rajasthan Police that on December 5, 2025, around 10 pm, police personnel reached the company premises and took her husband away without any reason and without informing the family.

The Rajasthan Police subsequently conducted an inquiry into the complaint. The communication issued by the assistant commissioner of police, Jaipur, stated that the petitioner’s husband was wanted in a theft case registered at a police station in UP’s Firozabad. The Rajasthan Police report further stated that Awadhesh was subsequently sent to judicial custody in Firozabad and Jaipur police personnel accompanied the UP Police team to provide assistance.

However, the high court noted that the FIR version was at variance with the Rajasthan Police’s account regarding the arrest. According to the prosecution case set out in the FIR, an informer had provided the police with the whereabouts of the petitioner’s husband. He and his co-accused were allegedly found near a cold storage on the road going to Chittrai in Firozabad.

The FIR version states that the accused persons challenged the police personnel and attacked the police team with firearms. It was claimed that in the ensuing encounter, the husband of the petitioner sustained a gunshot injury.

Thus, while the Rajasthan Police account stated that the accused was taken from Jaipur by the Firozabad Police in connection with the theft case, the UP FIR contained a different account, alleging that he was found in Firozabad with co-accused and attacked the police team with firearms before being injured in an ensuing encounter.

In view of these contrasting claims, the petitioner’s counsel alleged before the high court that her husband had been injured in a fake encounter allegedly carried out by police authorities to burnish their credentials.

In view of these allegations, the high court directed the ADGP, Agra Zone and CP, Jaipur, to place their reports before the court in respect of the case.

The court further directed that a copy of its order be communicated to the CP, Jaipur, through the registrar general of the Rajasthan High Court. In the order dated September 2, the matter has been listed for September 17.