Southern States - Tamil Nadu-Chennai   

Spotlight on police `encounters'

The slow and sure rise of criminals raises questions about the role of the police at the local level and the flow of slush money, says S. SHIVAKUMAR

How credible are `encounters' in which police shoot to kill? The recent gunning down of a man in the crowded T.Nagar area after he allegedly led a gang of robbers earlier in the day and the shooting of a chain snatcher a few days earlier have turned the spotlight on police `encounters'. These shooting episodes have gained significance in the wake of the controversy surrounding the gunning down of two terrorists at a shopping mall in New Delhi.

Though drawing a parallel between the Delhi shooting incident and the encounters in Chennai is not possible as the two police forces work with different threat perceptions, the strategy being adopted for handling criminals has come under scrutiny.

High profile police officer Kiran Bedi has said at the height of the `sexual harassment of women' controversy, that the country did not have a professional police, which was free to enforce law. The poor reputation that much of the police force enjoys thus raises doubts on the genuineness of an encounter or custody death. A key factor is that there are rarely neutral witnesses during what is claimed to be an `encounter' even in crowded areas. Though the T.Nagar encounter took place in a crowded area near a park surrounded by houses and offices, no one came forward to publicly say what they saw.

In many instances, the overall slow judicial process is used as an excuse to justify the `encounters' with hardcore criminals, who might otherwise manage to flee justice.

Interestingly, any encounter death follows a textbook style of operation. The gangster would attempt to attack the police team with a weapon, often a knife, and they would open fire in self-defence.

This is the pattern even in cases when the gangster is under custody, and being escorted by a team of policemen. Though it is described as sheer coincidence, gangsters are invariably shot dead when there is a spurt in crime.

For instance, hardly 24 hours after the City Police Commissioner, K.Vijay Kumar, had warned that police would not hesitate to open fire on chain snatchers, an alleged culprit was shot in the leg at MRC Nagar.

The chain snatcher was fleeing after targeting a decoy policewoman when a member of the yellow brigade intercepted him.

In one case the suspect had even struck at the house of a senior IAS officer and was shot dead when he allegedly opened fire at a police team. The police claimed the culprit was taken to a spot where he had buried a stolen pistol to recover the weapon.

The suspect reportedly diverted the attention of the police by digging at the wrong places; he suddenly took the weapon from the ground and opened fire at the police. When police returned the fire, he was killed.

In terms of law, such events ensure that there are few legal hassles and enquiries, which are bound to follow a shooting.

A Mumbai gangster Sanjay Ghate was shot dead by the police in Chennai, when he attempted to snatch an inspector's revolver while being escorted to the airport to apprehend his associate. In the bizarre sequence of events, the culprit is alleged to have snatched a revolver, after the police vehicle capsized, and the police personnel were recovering from the shock.

In the recent shootout at T.Nagar, the victim Stalin attacked the inspector after he was cornered and the inspector opened fire in `self-defence,' killing him.

Even in an earlier shootout, a gangster `Military' Kumar who had reportedly fled after attacking a police team was shot dead in a pre-dawn operation. Interestingly, a spate of burglaries and crime incidents preceded the shooting.

The police struck back with vengeance after its morale reached an all time low after the sensational murder on the Egmore court complex in 1996. The gangsters murdered an accused and escaped in waiting vehicles in full public view.

Exactly, three weeks later, three gangsters--Asaithamby, Mano and Gopi--were killed in a shoot-out with police outside the Loyola College at Nungambakkam.

The gangsters had come to the spot to collect ransom money when they were intercepted by a police team and gunned down.

One month after this shooting episode, another gangster, Kabilan, and his car driver were killed at Adyar. Kabilan had come to collect protection money from a businessman when he was cornered.

On the official side, such encounters are described as a result of `proactive policing,' which results in a downward swing in the crime graph.

Hardcore criminals evading arrest invariably surrender in courts, as they `feel safer in prison,' when they get the message that police had decided to nail them.

However, the slow and sure rise of criminals also raises questions about the role of the police at the local level and the flow of slush money. Few encounter cases end up in "injured" suspects, who might speak up later in court.

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