'Encounters' are cold blooded killings

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It is widely acknowledged that a powerful criminal-politician nexus has come up in India in recent years

By Rahul Singh


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Published: Mon 13 Jul 2020, 10:50 AM

Last updated: Mon 13 Jul 2020, 12:54 PM

In the early hours of Friday, July 10, a notorious gangster, Vikas Dubey, was killed by the Indian police in an 'encounter'. A week earlier, he and his gang had killed eight policemen. After an extensive hunt, he was apprehended while visiting a temple in an adjoining state. While being taken back to his home state of Uttar Pradesh under heavy guard, the vehicle carrying him swerved to avoid a herd of buffalos on the road and overturned. Seeing a chance to escape in the melee, Dubey grabbed the gun of one of the policemen escorting him, and wriggled out of the overturned vehicle. In the volley of shots between him and the police, he was killed. That is the police version of how Dubey met his end. It is full of gaping holes and unanswered questions.
Why was Dubey not handcuffed while being transported in the vehicle? Why were the guns of the policemen escorting him not 'secured'? Most intriguing of all, why were the media cars following the vehicles in which Dubey was riding, stopped just short of where the accident and 'encounter' happened? The intention of the police was obvious ­- to carry out the so-called accident and the 'encounter' before the media arrived. Which means that it was all stage-managed by the police. Clearly, there has been a massive cover-up. The UP police were determined, at all cost, to prevent Dubey from reaching his destined jail, after which he would then stand trial in a court and spill the beans. So, he had to be eliminated fast. What's more, the orders for his elimination must have come from the very top.
In India, the police come under their respective state government, not the central government. And for just over three years, UP has been run by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), with Yogi Adityanath as Chief Minister. He is supposed to be an effective administrator but an out-and-out Hindu nationalist. He will say that an 'inquiry' will be held on Dubey's death, and deny any responsibility.
Nevertheless, it is widely acknowledged that a powerful criminal-politician nexus has come up in India in recent years. The linkage has been particularly strong in India's most populous state, UP, and precedes the BJP coming to power there. Since the Opposition Congress Party has not been in power in UP for two decades, for a change the BJP cannot blame it. However, lawlessness has reigned under earlier regimes, that of the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP), led by Mayawati, and the Samajwadi Party (SP) led by Mulayam Singh Yadav and his son Akhilesh. Criminals were elected to village councils, municipalities, and the state assembly, even to the central parliament, with political support. And the police were complicit. If sometimes a criminal would face trial, the evidence against him provided by the police would be so flawed that the judge would have no option other than to acquit him. The judge might pass strictures against the police for their botched up 'evidence', but the politician would be there to ensure that the policemen in question remain in service.
The Vikas Dubey case is illustrative of the broken down law-and-order system. He has had a long criminal record of some two decades, and faced some 60 charges, that include murder and attempt to murder. In 2001, a senior BJP leader was murdered within a police campus. There were several witnesses, including policemen, who said that the killing was committed by Dubey. But they all turned hostile during the trial and he was acquitted. He then went on to join politics and won an election to a village council. He was charged with another murder, for which he was finally convicted to life imprisonment. Yet, strangely he got bail, and returned to his life of crime.
But it is not only UP with a criminal-politician link. At one time, Maharashtra was said to be one of the best-policed states and the Mumbai police force compared favourably to UK's famed Scotland Yard. Julio Ribeiro was a legendary Mumbai Police Commissioner who was also sent to Punjab and helped that state to successfully overcome its terrorist scourge. Those days are sadly long gone.
Still, there are plenty of honest and efficient Indian policemen, especially the senior ones, most of whom get into the service through a competitive exam and interview. The biggest hurdle they face is political interference. Inconvenient police officers are transferred and more pliable officers put in their place. In fact, the politicisation of the police force, not just in UP, has been steadily growing. Every political party is to blame for this. No political party wants to give up its hold on the police force. Numerous reports have suggested police reforms that have never been implemented. Another problem is the general attitude of the Indian public. Many Indians applaud fake 'encounters' that are often nothing but cold-blooded killings. Encounter 'specialists' have been treated like heroes and films made on them. The rationale is that the judicial system is so slow and flawed that it takes too long to bring criminals to justice. So, letting the police do the dirty job is faster and better. Clearly, improving India's law and order needs a multi-pronged approach. Breaking the criminal-politician link, of course is key, but an improvement in the quality of the police force is just as important, apart from speeding up the delivery of justice.
The writer is a former editor of Khaleej Times


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