The legality and credibility of police encounters in India have been questioned time and time again, especially when it comes to events involving gangsters wanted for years. From Ishrat Jahan encounter in 2004, to Batla House in 2008, to Vikas Dubey, and the latest, where gangster-turned-politician Atiq Ahmad’s son Asad and his accomplice were killed in police firing in Jhansi, encounters have made many headlines in India over the decades.