Lucknow, April 3: Uttar Pradesh police have gunned down 87 people in encounters in the last three months, triggering an outcry from relatives of victims, Opposition parties in the state and human rights activists.

The encounters are a fallout of the ongoing struggle of the state government against organised crime, launched by chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav in the face of political compulsions to improve law and order.

Yesterday, two accused persons, Bhimraj Yadav and Sadhu Yadav, were killed in an exchange of fire on the outskirts of the city.

On All Fool?s Day, six persons died in encounters with police. Manoj Tejpal of Moradabad, wanted in 16 cases of heinous crimes, was killed in an encounter in Majhola jungle in the district. The same day, a member of a gang headed by dacoit Thokia was killed in Chitrakoot. The other encounters of the day took place in Muzaffarnagar and Bijnaur. Police encounters claimed five lives in the last two days of March.

The number of encounter deaths is increasing every year. Last year, 238 people were killed in encounters and the figure for 2003 is 214. Crime record bureau officers said the figure for 2005 may cross 350 if the present trend continues.

The relatives of those killed have, in several cases, shot off letters to the state government alleging that the police have been picking up people and brutally killing them.

The regularity of the encounters and the organised manner in which accused people are being killed have unnerved Opposition politicians.

The BJP has alleged that the police are selectively eliminating criminals, sparing those with links to the ruling Samajwadi Party. A section of BJP members had lobbied party leaders to launch a protest last month when Kalua, an accused in cases of murder and abduction and who allegedly had links with the party, was killed in an encounter. ?The police have virtually launched a mission to eliminate those accused who do not kow-tow to the ruling party?s leaders,? alleged the Uttar Pradesh BJP president, Kesrinath Tripathi.

A senior Congress leader, too, accused the police of bias. ?As the government is favourably disposed towards Dadua, a dreaded dacoit of Chitrakoot, his rival Thokia is under fire while Dadua roams free.?

Human rights activists have also raised their voice against the killings. Magsaysay award winner Sandip Pandey wrote to the National Human Rights Commission last week seeking intervention to check the increasing human rights violations, especially encounter killings.

The police appear to have assumed the power of the judiciary and are passing death verdicts on the accused, alleged Pandey. These short-cuts in constitutional provisions are dangerous, he said.

?The extra-constitutional means by which the police are resorting to killing the accused are a virtual admission of the failure of the system of governance. This is a dangerous trend,? said Abhijit Das, the convener of Health Watch, a voluntary group that is also tracking such incidents.

But senior police officials are unfazed. ?The police here will not end up being martyrs while fighting criminals. When criminals fire, the police have to fire back,? said director-general of police Yashpal Singh.