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Updated: Dec 29, 2018 00:01 IST

Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday said human rights were for the common man, not for criminals and terrorists.

Addressing Indian Police Service (IPS) officers on the fifth day of the ongoing police week, he said some people tried to shield wrong people in the name of human rights violation.

Laying stress on ‘zero tolerance’ for crime, he said it was not proper for those who violated human rights themselves to talk about human rights violation.

Without mentioning a spate of encounters in the state, the CM said several organisations and people criticised the state police and the government for human rights violation, but the police work was appreciated in other states as well as countries like Nepal, Myanmar, Singapore and Mauritius. He said people appreciated policing in the state despite reading negative articles and criticism about human rights violation.

At least 69 criminals were gunned down and over 450 were injured in over 1500 police encounters since the formation of the BJP government in the state in March 2017. Governor Ram Naik had referred to the killing of 69 criminals in encounters, at a police week function on Thursday.For his part, Adityanath also said the police officials should strictly follow the Supreme Court guidelines on human rights. He said police officers should present their human face to the public and take strict action against offenders.

“Over 12,000 criminals got their bail cancelled due to fear of the law. Many pledged not to engage in crime anymore. Criminals and anti-social elements will not be spared. They will have to face the heat if they get involved in crime or anti-national activities,” he said.,” he said. Undeterred by criticism, the state government had given a free hand to the police to tackle criminals, he said, adding the UP Anti-terror squad had been reconstituted and equipped with more infrastructure.