LUCKNOW, Oct. 15 -- Uttar Pradesh Police have intensified operations against crime as part of Mission Shakti 5.0. Over the past 20 days, the force conducted more than a dozen encounters, neutralising several criminals and apprehending others in half-encounters, stated government officials in a release shared by state government on Tuesday. "On Monday, the police eliminated Shehzad alias Nikki in Meerut, who carried a bounty of Rs.25,000 for heinous crimes against minor girls. Earlier, strong action was taken against miscreants involved in firing outside actress Disha Patani's residence in Bareilly," stated a senior police official and added, "The police have maintained a zero-tolerance policy toward crime. Over the past eight and a half years, 256 hardened criminals have been eliminated in 15,726 encounters and 31,960 were arrested. In these encounters, 18 police personnel died fighting these criminal elements and 1,754 were injured". Among the Commissionerates, Lucknow saw 138 encounters with 12 criminals killed, Gautam Buddh Nagar reported 1,117 encounters with 9 criminals killed, Varanasi Commissionerate saw 131 encounters with 7 criminals killed, Kanpur Commissionerate recorded 234 encounters with 4 criminals killed, Agra Commissionerate reported 458 encounters, Ghaziabad Commissionerate led with 736 encounters and 13 criminals eliminated, while Prayagraj reported 141 encounters.htc...