Faith in the police is a must if
by Maxwell Pereira
I AM NOT a great proponent of ‘ encounters’. For police encounters have always given me a queasy feeling for various reasons — the foremost being that I firmly believe the right to take life remains solely with the One who created it and none else.
But then we live in a society that creates laws making it justifiable to take life of persons considered a danger to society; and we have societies that wage wars that require one to kill the enemy to emerge victorious.
That’s okay with me, as a necessary evil as long as the law permitting it remains on the statute. As an extension to this argument, I am also okay with police encounters where they are a must, and where they are inevitable.
The Batla House Jamia Nagar encounter of Friday, 19 September, following the
Despite the colossal sacrifice of an illustrious officer’s valued life snuffed out in his prime, and despite the merits of the major breakthrough achieved in the investigation of hitherto unsolved blasts in various parts of the country, there is a shocking effort on to confuse and confound public opinion by sectarian and partisan groups for reasons best known to them.
Even before the investigations are complete, efforts are on to pick holes and contradictions in the police versions emanating from different states — and especially in the Delhi Police brief on the encounter at L- 18 Batla House, without a thought for the interests of safety and security of the people and the integrity of the country which is at stake.
Protagonists of the fake encounter theory are busy feeding stories, not realising that the red herrings and canards they spread will help the real accused whose guilt beyond doubt has ultimately to be established in court. For which purpose, the investigators have to adduce fool- proof evidence that stands scrutiny — and any premature disclosure of details is fraught with danger of attempts to destroy evidence, intimidate or win over witnesses and a plethora of maladies that plague our criminal- justice system. So confident are the ones postulating theories counter to the police version that one of them even challenged me for a bet that not one of those arrested by the police following disclosures made after the encounter would ever be convicted. This is the scenario under which the police work.
Canards
So what are the canards sought to be spread? Firstly about the two in the police version said to have escaped from the tenement - that it is impossible for anyone to escape because of the single access into the building for entry or exit.
Without agreeing or disagreeing with this contention, I ask who cares whether or not there was an escape at all, and how many actually escaped – other than for purposes of further investigation and wrapping up of the case? What matters is whether or not the inmates ( however many they were) were genuinely members of a terror module, and whether they could have been captured alive without resorting to the use of firearms.
The second is the issue of the absence of blood on Sharma’s clothes in the photograph showing him being propped up ( probably while being led to a vehicle to transport him to hospital) by two colleagues.
What expertise does the one who has theories on this issue to speak either way? In my 35 years of active policing, I have witnessed bodies splattered with blood all over – I have also seen bodies which left us wondering: “ where did all the blood go?” Isn’t it best left to forensic experts to provide answers to these seemingly puzzling aspects at the right time and place? The other canard is that the bullet which killed Sharma was from the gun of a fellow raiding- partymember, the result of what in army parlance is termed accidental “ friendly fire”. Anyone with basic knowledge of ballistics would know how preposterous this is, as not by any stretch of imagination can more than one bullet hit the victim in a “ friendly fire” when the raiding party had no repeat- fire automatic weapon with them.
The Muslim community has many issues over being marginalised and discriminated against, as I as a Christian have issues over the burning of churches and raping of nuns. But these community issues cannot be used to deviate from the main issue in hand, to confuse and divert the focus from main investigations – as with the allegation about stereo- typing Muslims by parading arrested suspects with faces muffled in redchecked abaaya scarves associated with the Muslim community. By no stretch of imagination was this a deliberate act with malicious intent — and I wonder if those responsible for raising this realize the greater harm they have done to the Muslim cause by themselves drawing attention to it which would otherwise have gone totally unnoticed.
Broadly summed up, the incident in Jamia Nagar was not a planned encounter, it was primarily a recce for verification that led to chance positive identification of suspects. The unobtrusive communication managed through a cell phone missed call couldn’t tell all – just two things: either something positive, or indicating trouble, which made Sharma rush alone to the spot, simultaneously calling for backups. The actual circumstances that made Sharma go to the ill- fated tenement without adequate protection, no one can tell.
Speculation
The raiding party that followed and faced the bullets were as conscious of their lives as anyone prudent ought to be, and resultantly my enquiries tell me the bit about two escaping was based on the versions of those from the crowd that gathered below on hearing the shots. This in a nutshell is what happened.
Now, whatever be the speculations on the nittygritty surrounding these basic facts — whether by rumour- mongers, vested interests, or mischievous elements with an agenda, ultimately it is the ones in the raiding party who have to depose from the witness stand to tell the truth.
Every police department worth its salt needs its hitmen.
So does Delhi Police, given its peculiar circumstance as a much sought after target for bomb- blasting terrorists, the so- called aggrieved states and communities of the country; and plundering criminals from Delhi’s own bordering lands who find the riches of Delhi too much of a temptation to resist. That
Courage
In hindsight one is often wiser. As perhaps would be the case in the matter of the Jamia Nagar encounter when analysts have finally settled the dust on their deliberations and perambulations – on what could have been and what should have been done. The officers and staff of the Special Cell are an experienced and seasoned lot – of a steel frame and of rare courage tempered in sweat and blood. It is very easy for people to postulate theories from the safety of their armchairs or desks – but how many of these with the fake- encounter theory have guts to stand at the door with bullets flying at them and around them? There is no need to doubt the courage or integrity of the likes of Mohan Chand Sharma whom the nation has awarded for gallantry seven times!
The writer is a former joint commissioner of police
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