Former Bureaucrat Divya Mittal Questions Uttar Pradesh Policies on Encounters and Demolitions

LUCKNOW —

Former IAS and IPS officer Divya Mittal has raised sharp questions regarding the Uttar Pradesh government’s policies on police encounters and bulldozer demolitions, asking how authorities decide whose home is demolished and who faces an encounter.

In a video shared on her social media account on November 13, 2026, the former bureaucrat questioned whether the scale of justice is applied uniformly, and asked how authorities determine whether a suspect is shot in the leg or the head. Mittal, who previously served as the District Magistrate of Mirzapur, asserted that the rule of law is strengthened only when standard criteria are applied across all cases, warning that actions based on varying standards amount to discrimination rather than justice.

Mittal drew attention to the murder case of 12-year-old Prince in Semri village, noting that the victim was the only child of his parents, born 12 years after their marriage. She highlighted that the accused in the case had 17 criminal cases already registered against him, including charges of murder, robbery, and under the Gangsters Act, along with an abduction and murder case filed in 2020.

Questioning how the accused remained free despite his extensive criminal record, Mittal asked why the government did not oppose bail if it had been granted, and why a verdict had not been delivered in the 2020 case. She further questioned delays in police investigations, the filing of chargesheets, and the judicial trial process.

Stating that she served as an IPS officer before joining the IAS and understands the functioning of law and order, Mittal called for clarity regarding policy and justice. She recounted meeting the victim’s family, stating that the mother pleaded for the return of her son while the father demanded an encounter for the accused. Such incidents raise questions not only about criminality but also regarding the accountability of the entire justice system, she added.