Samajwadi Party President Akhilesh Yadav has raised concerns over the police encounter of Mangesh Yadav, an accused in the Sultanpur robbery case. Yadav, who died in the encounter, has been labeled a victim of a “fake encounter” by the SP chief. Yadav alleged that the encounter was staged to cover up the involvement of people linked to the ruling party, accusing the authorities of targeting individuals based on caste. On social media, Yadav stated: “It seems that those involved in the Sultanpur robbery had deep connections with the ruling party. This is why the ‘main accused’ was contacted for surrender before the fake encounter, and others were only superficially injured. The encounter was staged to target individuals based on caste.” He further argued that since the main accused had surrendered, all stolen goods should be returned, and the government should provide compensation for the mental trauma and business losses incurred due to the incident. Yadav criticized the BJP government, claiming that fake encounters are a facade to suppress public outrage while real law and order issues remain unaddressed. The robbery, which took place on August 28 at India Jewellers, involved a theft of ₹1.5 crore. While three other suspects were previously arrested, Mangesh Yadav, who was wanted with a reward of ₹1 lakh, was killed in a police encounter on Thursday morning.