New Delhi, Jul 11 (IANS): A plea has been moved by the People's Union for Civil Liberties (PUCL) in the Supreme Court seeking direction to set up special investigation team, having officers who have not served in Uttar Pradesh, to probe into the encounter deaths of gangster Vikas Dubey and his aides.

The petitioners have also urged the apex court to constitute a committee headed by a retired Supreme Court judge to enquire into the encounters that have been taking place in Uttar Pradesh and also the prevalent criminal-politician nexus in the state.

The petitioner cited the petition filed in May 2018, which took into account the over 1,000 encounters that had taken place, during January 2017 to March 2018, resulting in death of 49 persons and injuries to 370. "During pendency of the petition before this court, the number of encounters increased to 2,000 and deaths to 66 as mentioned in the rejoinder affidavit on October 8, 2018. The number has increased to 5,178 encounters in which 103 persons have been killed and 1,859 have been injured in 2019," said the plea.

The petitioner said it has taken up the issue pertaining to police encounters, among several other human rights issues, as it defies the rule of law and administration of law enforcing machinery in accordance with the Constitution.

"It is further submitted that police encounter/administrative liquidation is a serious crime - murder/culpable homicide and is an offence against the entire society. If such a crime is committed with the support of the state or where the state condones such an offence, it takes a very serious dimension, questioning the entire rule of law and governance in accordance with the Constitution", said the plea.

The petitioner contended that the UP government is flouting an earlier judgement of the Supreme Court, and indulging in massive encounters with impunity.