Encounter killings reveal a pattern

November 27, 2004: Sanjay Singh alias Sanju Shreeram Shardaprasad Chaudhary 25, a dreaded criminal involved in the sensational murder-cum-abduction of an NRI and abduction of the two New Delhi-based youngsters, killed in a pre-dawn encounter with Valsad police on the Sanjan-Bhilad highway.

October 9, 2005: A close Dawood Ibrahim aide and wanted criminal, Haji Haji Ismail Sumbhania, is killed in an encounter with the Valsad police in Nandigam village, Valsad district early. Better known as 8216;Double8217; and said to have close proximity with druglords like Iqbal Mirchi, Ismail was coming from Maharashtra in his Maruti Zen car, when the encounter took place.

November 26, 2005: In a joint operation, the Rajasthan and Gujarat police kill an alleged LeT cadre, Sohrabuddin Anwarhussain Sheikh, in Ahmedabad. DG Vanzara, the then chief of Gujarat Anti-Terrorist Squad, said they had intelligence that Sohrabuddin, acting on behalf of Dawood Ibrahim and Sharif Khan Pathan, had come to Gujarat to kill an important leader and create chaos in the state.

March 17, 2006: Four alleged terrorists of Harkat-ul-Mujahideen were gunned down by DCB in an encounter at Ganga Row House in Vatva locality of Ahmedabad. Very few policemen involved in the encounter got injured.

January 7, 2006: Rahim Qasim Sumra, another notorious gangster from Saurashtra, is the latest killed in a late-night encounter with Gandhinagar district police.

In Sumra8217;s case the incident happened late in the night and he was moving in a stolen vehicle. While he was killed in police firing, none of the policeman were hurt in the exchange of fire by Sumra and two of his aides who fled from the spot. He was taken to the hospital and was declared brought dead. Interestingly, it8217;s a pattern that runs through most encounters that have taken place in the state. Late night or pre-dawn encounters, few or usually no policemen hurt in the exchange of fire and no eyewitnesses apart from police personnel.

Be it the case of Sohrabuddin Anwarhussain Sheikh or of Naresh Katarmal alias Sarap, wanted in an abduction-murder case, who was killed in similar fashion by Rajkot police in the city outskirts on August 20, 2006, there is a method in the modus operandi of police encounters.

And it8217;s something human rights activists have taken note of, eliciting strong reactions from them. Noted advocate and human rights activist Girish Patel says, 8220;Encounter killings have increased in Gujarat in the recent past and all of them are either politically motivated or have colours of personal vengeance or communal angle.8221; He added, 8220;Most of them are fake.8221;

Patel said, 8220;The job of the police is to arrest the accused and hand it over to court to decide his guilt. But that is not happening in these incidents. These killings not only eliminate a person but also destroy the evidences, which could have led to further detection. People have lost faith in the criminal justice system and the Gujarat Police are taking advantage of the same through these encounters.8221;

However, Ahmedabad Police Commissioner J Mahapatra has refuted the claims by activists. 8220;Police are not doing anything illegal and it is completely under its jurisdiction,8217;8217; pointed out Mahapatra.

When The Indian Express asked Minister of State for Home Amit Shah why the police couldn8217;t nab the accused alive in the encounters, he was evasive. 8220;You can understand that only if you remain present at the spot of encounter.8217;8217; And on the allegations of the encounters being fake Shah said, 8220;Except media, nobody is making such allegations.8217;8217;

Director General of Police P C Pandey could not be contacted for his comments regarding the issue despite repeated attempts.