Another alleged gangster in Tamil Nadu has been killed in a police encounter. According to the police, the Inspector was attacked at an illegal sand quarry in Tirunelvelli district and he opened fire in self defence. This has now become a routine predictable theory. This reminds me of a gruesome police encounter in Madurai which I covered as a fledgling reporter. I heard the real story from the horse's mouth after a decade. It was a fake encounter killing!
It was a police encounter in which an alleged gangster was shot dead. The police had then claimed they opened fire because the gangster had stabbed the left arm of the Inspector who was leading the operation to nab him. The Inspector too was admitted to a hospital and the press was allowed to film him with his blood soaked bandaged hand. More than ten years later I met the same police officer in Chennai, who had then risen to the rank of an Assistant Commissioner of Police. My first question to him was about his hand that suffered a stab injury. He laughed and said "it was just a set up sir".
I've heard similar confessions from members of the special team who worked to nab forest brigand Veerapan, who too was killed in a police encounter. According to them a police informer was killed and the body was disposed in the jungle. It was never recorded or entered in police records. The police, according to them, did send a huge monetary compensation package to the family, to wash their hands clean.
Recently five men alleged to be behind two bank robberies at gun point in Chennai were shot dead in a police encounter right inside their house in which they were holed up. And not long ago a series of gangsters had met with the same fate on the outskirts of Chennai.
These incidents raise several questions:
1. Is the police in the state incompetent to catch suspects alive?
2. Why do police never shoot the alleged criminals below their knees if their real intention was self defence?
3. Why do these incidents invariably happen in isolated places without independent witnesses?
4. Do senior police officials shield and encourage trigger happy officers?
5. Why aren't senior police officers held accountable for encounter killings?
6. Shouldn't an independent body like the National Human Rights Commission have its own force to investigate alleged fake encounters? Presently the CB-CID wing conducts the mandatory investigations and it only remains loyal to its colleagues of the other wing.
7. What guidelines are in place to identify "fake injuries".
Certainly, often law enforcers take law into their hands. Even hardcore criminals deserve a fair trial. No matter how bad is our judicial system, police should not be allowed to turn judges. Rights activists have even mooted the idea of treating encounter killings as incompetence leading to demotion of officers involved until proved that the killing was absolutely unavoidable. Sadly, many police officers take pride in being branded as encounter killing enthusiasts or specialists. They are nurtured by senior officers and political bosses for their selfish gains.
Unfortunately when it comes to human rights violations a vast majority keeps quiet. Many even justify encounter killings. It is important that the silent majority speaks up, aloud against this police high handedness. Lest, the tentacles of encounter killing could spread to the streets or busy roads of our towns and cities. We could be the target.