- With the death of Anil Dujana, the UP Police has added one to its tally of criminals killed in encounters in the last six years, taking the tally to 184.

- Out of the 184 gangsters killed in encounters in UP, 64 have died in Meerut zone, so the debate is raging as to why Meerut is the hub of crime in UP. Meerut zone is in the most prosperous western Uttar Pradesh of UP. Western Uttar Pradesh, also known as Harit Pradesh, is more educated, prosperous and happy than other districts, but crime is very high in the Meerut zone. Of the 25 most dangerous criminals in Uttar Pradesh, 12 are from western UP, it is clear that crime is high in this area.

Uttar Pradesh Police's Special Task Force (STF) killed another notorious UP gangster Anil Dujana in an encounter. Anil Nagar alias Anil Duja, synonymous with terror and hooliganism in Western Uttar Pradesh, was out on bail shortly before. Instead of appearing after the expiry of bail, he absconded, so the police kept looking for him.

As soon as it came to know that Duja was active in Meerut, the STF team went after him. Duja was found to be in the Jani area near the Ganga river canal in Meerut and the police surrounded him. The police asked him to surrender, but when Dujana started firing, the police also fired, killing Dujana. The police have a story to tell whenever they have an encounter. The same old record has been played by the police in Dujana's encounter too.

Well, with the demise of Dujana, another dangerous criminal has ended in UP. This is the first encounter by the UP Police since mafia-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad's son Asad and his voucher Ghulam Mohammad were killed in an encounter last month. With Dujana's death, UP Police has added one to the tally of criminals killed in encounters in the last six years, taking the figure to 184.

Dujana's encounter also adds one to the gangsters killed in Meerut Zone. In UP, 18 divisions have been created for administrative ease, most gangsters have died in Meerut zone. Apart from Meerut, Meerut zone includes six districts namely Baghpat, Ghaziabad, Hapur, Gautam Budhnagar and Bulandshahr. 64 criminals have been killed and 1,708 injured in 3,205 encounters in the last 6 years in these six districts. A policeman has also died during the encounter but the number of gangsters killed is very high.

Meerut is back in the limelight with Dujana's encounter. More than a third of the 184 gangsters killed in encounters in UP have been killed in the Meerut zone, so the debate as to why Meerut is the hub of crime in UP is raging. Interestingly, Meerut zone is in the most prosperous Western Uttar Pradesh of UP. Western Uttar Pradesh, also known as Harit Pradesh, is more educated, prosperous and happy than other districts of Uttar Pradesh, but crime is very high in the Meerut zone. Out of the 25 most dangerous criminals in Uttar Pradesh, 12 are from western UP, it is clear that crime is high in this area.

According to analysts, high crime in western UP is at the root of the prosperity. Due to the Green Revolution, bumper crop started landing in Punjab and Haryana as well as Western UP. Sugar mills were established in western UP due to sugarcane ripening profusely. There are more than 50 large sugar mills in western UP.

Crime is already high in UP so the sugar mill owners would give away the mill contract. These contractors started hiring musclemen to keep the mill running smoothly. In this way each contractor had his own gang. A gang war started when contractors started quarreling over issues including bringing laborers to work in the mill. The gang war started in 1980 between the gangs of Mahendra Fauji and Satveer Gurjar and in the next five years the gang war of contractors became common.

Due to this, a series of kidnappings, murders etc. started in the enmity that arose. The contractors' musclemen broke away and formed their own gangs that extorted money from urban areas. He did not hesitate to commit murders to create fear. Battles for supremacy ensued in these extortion tussles. Politicians also nurtured these gangs, giving West UP the color of crime.

In the last few years, the industries in the Delhi NCR area including Noida, which is near the western UP, have started booming in a big way. Due to this, the prices of lands increased and residential colonies were formed. From using gangsters to encroach on lands to providing betel nuts to eliminate rivals, the influence of gangsters has also increased.

One of the reasons why crime is high in western UP is that the area is communally sensitive. From the Hashimpura riots in the 1980s to the Muzaffarnagar riots of 2013, riots occurred six times a day in western UP. The animosities caused by these riots are offset even after the riots have subsided, so crime is high. Similarly, casteism also increases crime. Jats, Gurjars, Tyagis, Yadavs etc do not get along with each other in western UP. Due to this, caste-based gangs have also formed.

The extent of crime in western UP can be estimated from the fact that the police record says that 517 gangs are active in Meerut zone alone. There are 2470 members of these gangs on whom the police has announced a reward. Sundar Bhati is considered to be the biggest gangster of Meerut zone, but apart from that the gangs of Mukim Kala, Sunil Rathi, Dharmendra Kirthal, Badan Singh Baddo, Yogesh Bhadaura etc. are also dangerous.

Western UP is a region of fertile soils nestled in water-rich plains. Due to this, the area can have a lot of development, but due to crime, investors do not come here. Agriculture is prosperous so people are happy but there is no other industry except sugar mills. The Yogi Adityanath government has started a campaign to clean up the criminals and develop western UP, but the crime rate is so high that it is not being cleaned.

Dujana was brought to the court wearing a bulletproof jacket by the police

Anil Dujana was considered the most wanted gangster in UP. There were 62 cases against Dujana, the most notorious gangster of western Uttar Pradesh. The first case was registered against Anil Nagar alias Anil Dujana in Ghaziabad in 2002 for the murder of a gangster named Harbir Pahlwan. Since then 18 cases of murder have been registered against Dujana. Dujana is believed to have killed more than a hundred people in two decades as he used to go to other states to commit crimes.

In most of the cases Dujana's involvement was not known and he was not made an accused. Due to these murders, Dujana made so many enemies that the police brought Dujana to court wearing a bulletproof jacket to prevent him from being killed.

Randeep Bhati is credited with making a mere 46-year-old Dujana a big gangster. Once upon a time, the Sundar Bhati gang was a terror in western UP. Naresh Bhati formed a gang against Sundar.

Naresh entered politics and became the District Panchayat President. To stop his growing power, Sundar got Naresh killed in 2004. Naresh's brother Randeep took Dujana along to avenge the murder. Randeep along with his nephews Amit Kasana and Dujana tried hard to kill Sundar but failed. Trying to kill Sundar, Dujana went on to commit murders one after another and became a big gangster.

Bhati gang occupied the toll booth

You will be shocked to know how Sundar Bhati gang, which is considered to be the biggest in western UP, earns crores of rupees daily. The Municipal Corporation in Delhi has constructed toll booths at every border point. Every vehicle entering Delhi from outside has to pay toll. Contracts have been given to private contractors to collect these tolls.

The Sundar Bhati gang men extort money themselves from every vehicle entering Delhi and give 50 percent of the money to the contractor. There are 48 border points to enter Delhi and Bhati gangs extort ransom at each point. Due to this, the municipality suffers a hit of crores of rupees every month but nobody dares to complain due to the terror of Bhati gag.