Lucknow, Feb 15 (PTI): Accusing the opposition of sympathising with criminals, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday declared in the state Legislative Council that police encounters in the state would not stop.

Speaking in the House during the Zero Hour, Adityanath pointed towards the opposition and said everybody knew who gave patronage to criminals. A total of 40 dreaded criminals have been gunned down in 1200 encounters, and this will continue, the chief minister said.

He was replying to Devendra Pratap Singh’s (BJP) question on propriety pertaining to the February 13 directive of Chairman Ramesh Yadav asking the Yogi Adityanath government to get a CBI probe conducted into three cases, including of two police encounters.

“It is unfortunate that some people are showing sympathy toward criminals. This is dangerous for democracy. The Noida incident which took place on February 3, in which Jitendra Yadav was hit by a bullet was not a police encounter, and police does not count it as an encounter. Even the person affected had endorsed it,” Adityanath said.

The chief minister urged the Chair to consider the questions raised by Devendra Pratap Singh. To this, Leader of Opposition Ahmed Hasan (SP) said the Chair had already directed the government to get a CBI probe conducted. “Now it can either recommend a CBI probe or may not do so. What is the relevance of the objection,” Hasan asked. Later, Chairman Ramesh Yadav said he would reserve his decision on the question of propriety raised by Singh.