MEERUT, India (AP) — The police videos follow a predictable script: A man shot in the lower leg hobbles through darkness as officers escort him away.

Police across India’s most populous state have shot hundreds of suspects in near-identical encounters that often target Muslims accused of cow smuggling, an offense closely tied to cow protection laws rooted in Hindu religious belief, according to an Associated Press investigation.

Police have publicized the shootings as part of a broad crackdown on crime and characterize them as acts of self-defense. Activists, opposition leaders and local judges, however, say the violence amounts to extrajudicial punishment and intimidation that disproportionately impacts India’s large Muslim minority, and undermines the rule of law in the world’s largest democracy.

“This is a dangerous situation,” said Mangla Verma, a human rights lawyer based in New Delhi.…