Shot in the leg, left in fear: AP investigation exposes pattern of Indian police shootings targeting Muslims

Indian police have shot and injured hundreds of suspects accused of cow smuggling in Uttar Pradesh, with Muslims accounting for nearly 93% of identified victims, according to an investigation by The Associated Press (AP) that raises concerns over religious discrimination and the use of force without proper accountability.

The investigation found that police in India’s most populous state have repeatedly shot suspects in the legs, often below the knee, in incidents authorities describe as acts of self-defence. Human rights activists, opposition leaders and judges have questioned whether the shootings amount to extrajudicial punishment and disproportionately affect the country’s Muslim minority.

The shootings are part of a policing tactic known locally as “Operation Langda”, or “Operation Lame”, which has become widespread in Uttar Pradesh. The practice involves shooting suspects to injure rather than kill them.

According to the AP investigation, the pattern has raised concerns about whether police are using force to punish suspects before they face trial.

“This is a dangerous situation,” Mangla Verma, a human rights lawyer based in New Delhi, told the AP. “It’s become a routine police practice … Instead of investigating, police kill or injure a person and justice is done.”

Nearly 93% of identified victims were Muslims

The Center for the Study of Organised Hate, a Washington-based think tank, compiled records of nearly 650 cases involving suspects accused of cow smuggling who were shot and injured by Uttar Pradesh police since 2020. The findings were shared exclusively with the AP, which independently reviewed a sample of more than 200 cases.

Of the 627 cases in which names or other identifying information were available, nearly 93% of those injured were Muslims, according to the centre's analysis.

The figures cover incidents publicised by the police themselves and are likely to represent only a portion of the actual cases.

Cow smuggling is a particularly sensitive issue in India, where cows are revered by many Hindus and cow protection has become a politically charged subject. Laws restricting cattle slaughter and transport vary across states.

Raqib Naik, executive director of the Center for the Study of Organised Hate, said the findings raised serious concerns about the treatment of religious minorities by state institutions.

The evidence from hundreds of shootings, he told the AP, “clearly shows that the state institutions, particularly the law enforcement, are increasingly being used as the vehicles for the persecution of Muslim minority”.

Naik described the pattern as a form of institutionalised persecution, arguing that policing appeared increasingly intertwined with majoritarian politics.

Uttar Pradesh police official Amitabh Yash rejected allegations that officers were targeting a particular religious community. He argued that the high proportion of Muslims among suspects injured in cattle-related cases reflected their participation in the cattle trade.

“The police itself has all castes and religions,” Yash told the AP. “You cannot try to target one group.”

Police shootings under ‘zero tolerance’ policy

The shootings have taken place under a tougher policing approach promoted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his political allies in Uttar Pradesh, where authorities have adopted a “zero tolerance” policy towards crime.

Uttar Pradesh is governed by Yogi Adityanath, a Hindu monk-turned-politician and senior leader of Modi's Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Adityanath took office as chief minister in March 2017. From then until October 13, 2026, police encounters killed 316 suspects, including 110 Muslims, according to state police data obtained by the AP.

Muslims make up around one-fifth of Uttar Pradesh's population, meaning they accounted for a larger proportion of those killed in police encounters than their share of the state's population.

During the same period, 12,890 suspects were injured in police encounters, while 18 police personnel were killed and 1,953 were injured in the line of duty. The available data did not identify the religion of suspects injured by police.

In a statement in May, Uttar Pradesh police said the zero-tolerance approach had increased fear among criminals and strengthened the public's sense of security.

The police have also maintained that officers act in self-defence during encounters.

Yash told the AP that officers were instructed to use force only in self-defence and that no policy encouraged them to shoot suspects in the legs. He said he would investigate the recurring pattern of injuries if an appropriate complaint were filed.

“The police must be questioned for every action they take. Every action is open to scrutiny, whether it is a death or an injury,” he said.

Yash also rejected claims that officers received career benefits for shooting suspects, saying there had been no reason in the previous year to punish an officer for the inappropriate use of force.

Experts question pattern of leg injuries

Police statements and social media videos often describe similar circumstances: suspects attempting to flee, officers coming under fire and police shooting to disable rather than kill them.

However, human rights advocates have questioned whether the injuries are consistent with genuine self-defence, particularly because so many suspects are shot in the lower leg.

Some activists argue that the practice of shooting to injure, sometimes called a “half encounter”, may have developed as an alternative to fatal police encounters that attract greater public scrutiny.

Sandeep Pandey, an activist and opposition political leader in Uttar Pradesh, accused the authorities of using violence outside the normal judicial process.

“Such incidents make a mockery of the law. They sabotage the system,” he told the AP. “It’s state-sponsored violence.”

Dr Mohd Kaleem Khan, a professor of forensic medicine at Aligarh Muslim University's Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, also questioned whether the reported injuries were consistent with the police accounts.

He said it was highly unlikely that a bullet could pass horizontally through the calf muscle without hitting bone when a person was fleeing or struggling, particularly from a distance.

“It’s not a shot in defense,” Khan told the AP. “It’s a deliberate close shot of a person.”

Activists say similar practices are spreading beyond Uttar Pradesh to other BJP-governed states, including Haryana and Uttarakhand, as well as Bihar and areas surrounding New Delhi.

High court warns against routine police encounters

The growing number of shootings has drawn criticism from the Allahabad High Court, the highest court in Uttar Pradesh.

In January, the court issued a public rebuke of the practice, warning that police officers could not replace the justice system and stressing the need to follow legally mandated reporting and investigation procedures.

In a ruling on a bail hearing earlier this year, a judge observed that firing at the legs of accused people appeared to have become routine.

The judge described such conduct as “wholly impermissible” under the rule of law.

The court also suggested that some officers might be motivated by career incentives or publicity, warning that police could be misusing their authority to attract the attention of senior officers or generate public sympathy.

In a separate case in June, another Allahabad High Court judge expressed what he described as “deep constitutional concern” over a “culture of institutional impunity” in Uttar Pradesh.

However, judicial action has been slow. In 2018, the People's Union for Civil Liberties, a human rights organisation, presented evidence of police encounter killings in the state and asked the court to ensure independent investigations into such incidents. The case remains pending.

Muslim families say shootings have destroyed livelihoods

The AP spoke with the families of six Muslim men in Uttar Pradesh who had been shot in the leg by police. All requested anonymity, saying they were afraid to speak publicly. At the time of the interviews, the men were either in jail or living in hiding.

One woman said her son had supported their extended family by trading buffalo, which are not covered by the same cow protection restrictions.

“He’s been left lame. His leg has developed a large swelling,” she told the AP.

She said the family was struggling to survive on donations because her son could no longer work.

Another woman said her son, who traded dairy buffalo, had been shot in both knees. The family had since been forced to take out small loans to cover its expenses.

Recalling a hospital visit, she said blood had been oozing from his wounds.

“He’s completely broken,” she said. “He just held our hands. The whole family cried. He cried continuously.”

A Muslim man whose nephew was allegedly picked up by police while travelling to see his children said the young man was accused of cow smuggling and shot in the leg.

The man told the AP that his family feared another relative could face similar treatment.

“The only fear now is that they’ll pick up someone else in the name of cows — or shoot someone else,” he said.

Critics link crackdown to Hindu nationalist politics

The investigation comes amid wider concerns about India's shift towards a more explicitly Hindu-centred political identity under Modi's leadership.

In Uttar Pradesh, Adityanath has positioned himself as a strong advocate of tough policing and Hindu religious nationalism. Critics argue that the enforcement of cow protection laws, combined with the pattern of police shootings, disproportionately affects Muslims and reinforces political hostility towards the minority community.

“When you shoot people who are carrying cattle, you are sending a message that you are upholding a Hindu agenda,” Pandey told the AP.

Yash maintained that police did not discriminate on religious grounds and reiterated that officers acted against suspects based on their involvement in crime.

India stopped publishing figures on the proportion of Muslims serving in the police force more than a decade ago. According to 2013 data from the National Crime Records Bureau, Muslims accounted for just 4.8% of the police force in Uttar Pradesh, indicating significant underrepresentation at the time.

The AP investigation documents a recurring pattern of shootings, a disproportionate impact on Muslim suspects in cattle-related cases and concerns raised by human rights advocates and judges over police accountability. Uttar Pradesh police, however, deny that the encounters are driven by religious bias and maintain that officers use force in self-defence.