UP Police Chief refutes Akhilesh Yadav’s claim on caste posts, calling for “misleading”

Samajwadi Party Chairman Akhilesh Yadav claimed that on the second day after the caste post of the Uttar Pradesh police force, DGP Prashant Kumar on Monday dismissed the claim, calling them “bad and misleading”. “People holding responsible positions are not allowed to spread rumors. The claims about caste-based posts posted on social media are groundless,” said DGP Kumar’s strongly worded statement.

“Our responsibility is to offset the false information of facts by publishing relevant data, which several police departments have done,” he said.

He added: “If such misleading information is spread in the future, we will continue to bring the truth to the public. All posts in Uttar Pradesh are strictly completed in accordance with established norms and guidelines.”
The DGP’s comments were published the day after Yadav spoke with reporters at Prayagraj, claiming that officials from backward and minority communities are under-numbered in police positions, especially at the level of Station House Officers (SHOS).

“In Agra, of the 48 police stations, only 15 SHOs come from the PDA (backward, Dalit and minority) community. The rest are all from the ‘Singh bhai log’,” Yadav said.

He cited similar examples from Mainpuri, Chitrakoot and Mahoba regions and accused the BJP government of following a “divergence and domination” policy by separating society along caste and religious boundaries. In response to these claims, multiple police departments across the state shared their data publicly. For example, the Agra Police Department noted that 39% of its troops include OBC, while 18% belong to the SC community, which is much higher than the 27% OBC reservation norms.

Mainpuri police said 31% of its personnel are from OBC and 19% from SC backgrounds. Chitrakoot police reported that of its 12 police stations, 3 SHOs were OBC, 2 were SC/ST, and 7 were from other categories.

Prayagraj police also refuted Akhilesh Yadav’s claims and clarified that the SHO appointment was based on merit and professionalism.

“About 40% of us belong to the OBC and SC/ST communities. The choice is based on dedication, integrity, social sensitivity and responsiveness to public dissatisfaction,” a statement from the department said.

However, Yadav shared some data from Prayagraj police on social media on Monday and stuck to his claims.

“90% of PDAs are only 25% represented in Prayagraj police. This is “injust proportion” to PDAs.”

Meanwhile, DGP Prashant Kumar calls for restraint, urging political leaders and the public to avoid hasty conclusions based on incomplete or inaccurate information.

“It is our responsibility to raise factual data and maintain public trust. We call on everyone to stay away from rumors and not to raise unnecessary questions on the police system,” he said.