Police Theories Encountered

SHOBHITA NAITHANI,

IT'S 11 AT night on September 22. Sombre activity is in progress at the Nizamuddin burial ground, but a stunned, occasionally resentful uncertainty pervades the air. A group of some 150 armed policemen stand round, keeping grim watch over a gathering of over 250 people. Some of those attending the funeral are irate. They are questioning the veracity of the rationale that brings them to the burial of Atif, alias Bashir, and Mohammed Sajid, blamed for the September 13 New Delhi blasts and shot dead three days earlier in a police encounter in New Delhi's Jamia Nagar. Now the two are being buried in the presence of the Shahi Imam of the Delhi Jama Masjid, Syed Ahmed Bukhari, local politicians and numerous Muslims visiting the city to mark Ramzan. Speaking at the funeral, Bukhari reiterated what many civil society organisations have been saying since September 19, the day of the encounter: "The police cannot label anyone a terrorist. It's for the courts to decide whether a person is guilty."

There are two versions of the events of that day. Badr Taslim, 48, a long-time resident of L-17, Batla House, the building adjacent to the one where the 'terrorists were holed up', first heard the sounds of gunfire at about 11am and after that a scream. Soon, armed men rushed to the spot and told him to get inside his house. Taslim ran to the flat opposite his and saw two men coming down from the fourth floor of L-18, supporting Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma by his arms. Sharma would die later that night of wounds sustained during the operation. But Taslim is unsure how serious Sharma's injuries were. "A small stain of blood was visible under his right arm," he says. "There was no wound in the front of his body. There was no blood on the staircase either."
Some residents recall the sequence. Several gunshots, the police said 30, audible till about 11:40am. Then, the silence. Finally, the bodies of two 'terrorists' — 23-year-old Atif and 17-yearold Sajid — carted away. Taslim didn't see the police arresting Saif, who is suspected to have planted the Regal Cinema bomb that was defused. Masih Alam, a lawyer who lives in the flat opposite L-18, agrees with Taslim's version.
In the police story, Atif was the Indian Mujahideen mastermind who designed and coordinated the five blasts that went off in three crowded New Delhi shopping centres. Sajid was supposedly Atif's close aide. The police claim the Special Cell team had received information that two of those suspected in the blasts were at Jamia Nagar. At about 10:30am, a subinspector posing as a Vodafone salesman knocked on the door of the fourth-floor flat in L-18 Batla House. The residents of the house said they didn't want the Vodafone offer. As was arranged, the sub-inspector sent a signal to Sharma by giving him a missed call. Minutes after getting the cue, Sharma was up the stairs with six other officers. As he entered the flat, men rushed out of another room and opened fire at him. Sharma fell to the ground, and the bullet aimed at him hit a constable. The shootout continued. Sharma was pulled out and taken to the Holy Family Hospital, closeby. The police later said Sharma was bleeding heavily. By then, the police had taken over the area and cordoned it. Later, the police claimed that the shootout had accounted for three terrorists: two dead, one arrested. The police said two others escaped. An AK-47 assault rifle along with two .30 pistols and a computer were recovered from the alleged hideout, a seizure the police would have to prove once the trial starts.

Over the weekend, the police claimed that two more terrorists were on the run along with the two from Batla House. So, that made it four on the run. The police claimed that an additional four — Zeeshan, Zia-ur-Rehman, Saquib Nissar and Mohammad Shakeel — were arrested by September 21. Zeeshan was the first of these four to be arrested on September 19. But before that, Zeeshan had appeared on a news channel, after he saw his name flash on television as a suspect. On television, Zeeshan said he wasn't involved. Hours later, the police picked him up and claimed he had confessed.

IN THE aftermath, the loopholes in the police theory are becoming evident. Why weren't the policemen in bulletproof jackets? Eyewitness Taslim wonders how the two terrorists who managed to escape got away, considering that L-18 not only has just one entrance and exit, but also has a gap between its terrace and the roof of the next house. "The only option was to jump. Had they done so, they would have died," Taslim says. The alleged terrorists had also applied for tenant verification on August 21, with their personal details, including permanent addresses, driving license details, and the address of their previous residence. "Why would those involved in the Ahmedabad blasts in July and those preparing to bomb Delhi in September give their verification to the police?" asks Asif Mohammad, a former councillor of the area.
Civil rights lawyer Prashant Bhushan, who is leading an independent fact-finding mission into the incident, feels that the police did not set out for Batla House thinking they were after terrorists. They would have planned the operation better, Bhushan said. And therefore, he says, the police story describing the dead men's role in the blasts is false. "This is clear from several facts. Their tenant verification is authentic. Zeeshan was taking an MBA exam. Atif is a registered Jamia Millia Islamia student. All these point to the fact that there is something amiss in the police theory," says Bhushan.

But the big question is: How did Sharma die? Bhushan says there are three possibilities: those inside the house were armed and fired at Sharma, or he fell victim to a form of 'friendly fire', having been accidentally shot by a police gun. The last and most sinister, utterly cynical possibility is that he was shot by his colleagues, perhaps a bitter fallout of his chequered career.
'cracking' of the terror module, a section of the media and civil rights activists like Shabnam Hashmi, John Dayal and Yogendra Yadav doubt the police theory. For now, there is a demand for a fair, impartial and independent probe into the puzzling incident.

Has A Cover-Up Begun?

AIIMS doctors say crucial evidence may have been lost during Inspector MC Sharma's operation HIS COLLEAGUES call him the bravest. But his death during the Jamia Nagar encounter has raised uncomfortable questions. In a startling disclosure, a senior doctor who conducted the postmortem on Inspector MC Sharma at the All India Institute of Medical Sciences spoke to TEHELKA of the damage to his vital organs. "It was difficult to establish the entry and exit points of the bullet because conclusive evidence had been wiped out by the interventions of the doctors at Holy Family [where Sharma was rushed to]."Once considered the right-hand man of late ACP Rajbir Singh, another encounter specialist, Sharma was instrumental in the killing of 35 alleged terrorists and the arrest of 80 supposed others. It is believed that Sharma also killed 120 gangsters in a career just short of two decades. A close Special Cell colleague said there was a time when Sharma and Singh were measured on the same notoriety scale. "But post-2003, once the two encounter specialists fell out, Sharma sorted his ways." Jamia Nagar residents want to know how a veteran officer could make the mistake of not wearing a bulletproof vest to an encounter site. Senior officers have varying answers. "He probably wanted to garner all the credit," said one, who requested anonymity. According to another, "He was under tremendous pressure as his son was suffering from dengue." Least satisfactory was the response from Deputy Com missioner of Police (Special Cell) Alok Kumar, who said, "He must have wanted to maintain secrecy in a cramped area like Batla House." Why then could he not have worn the vest under his shirt?

(Rohini Mohan contributed to this story)
WRITER'S E-MAIL

shobhita@tehelka.com

Students of Jamia take RTI route to dig facts on encounter

Neelam Pandey, Hindustan times

The students of Jamia Milia Islamia are now taking the Right to Information (RTI) route to lay bare the facts about the encounter that took place in Batla House last Friday.
One of the students of Mass Communication Research Centre (MCRC), Jamia, has filed four individual RTI applications in various institutions to get a clear picture of the blast and the encounter.
“People have been agitating and expressing their views in violent ways. But I think we have a tool in our hand that was made to create transparency and that’s why I have filed four RTI applications to get actual facts about the incident rather than listening to various versions being given by the police and the government,” said Afroz Alam Sahil, a resident of Batla House.
He is a student of MA Mass Communication, Jamia.
Sahil, a 20-year-old has filed four RTI’s in the Supreme Court, National Human Resource Commission (NHRC), Delhi Police and All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS).
“I have been speaking to a lot of students and the residents regarding the incident. While many of them want to get a clear picture of the encounter but they are scared to the extent that they are shying away from even filing RTI applications lest they might be harmed in some way or the other,” added Sahil who is a native of Bihar.
Sahil has been motivating other students from Jamia also, to use the RTI to get their questions answered.
“I have organised a meeting tomorrow to discuss the issue regarding filing other RTI applications by students as well as residents. There are many unanswered questions about the incident in the residents mind and if we fail to get our queries answered then we will also get to know how efficient is the RTI,” added Sahil.

फर्जी मुठभेड़ ............?

देश की कानून व्यवस्था को बनाये रखने में पुलिस की एक अहम भूमिका होती है। बल्कि इन्हे देश व देश में रह रहे इन्सानों की रक्षा हेतु नियुक्त किया जाता है। लेकिन यह जब रक्षक ही भक्षक बन जाये तो आप क्या करेंगे?

यह सच है कि आज आम जनता आतंकवाद से तंग आ चुकी है बल्कि वह यह भी मानने लगी है कि आतंकवाद को जल्द से जल्द जड. से खत्म कर देनी चाहिए। उन सब को मार गिराना चाहिए जो सैकड़ों हजारों बेकसूरों की जान लेने में नहीं हिचकिचाते। बशर्ते वह वाकई आतंकवादियों हो और उनके आतंकवादी होने का पूरा सबूत भी हो।

पुलिस जिसे अपने कार्य के लिए अत्यंत दयानतदार व इमानदार माना जाता है लेकिन आज कानून व्यवस्था को कायम रखने वाली इस पुलिस के किरदार पर कई सवाल उठ खड़े हुए हैं। इसमें अनेकों विकृतियाँ आ गई हैं। पहले इसका राजनीतिकरण हुआ और अब इसका अपराधीकरण हो रहा है। कानून व्यवस्था को अपने हाथ में लेना और अपने मुताबिक चलाना हमारे देश की पुलिस के लिए कोई नई बात नहीं है, जिस पर आश्चर्य किया जाये। लग-भग हर दिन, हर समय देश के किसी न किसी कोने में पुलिस द्वारा कानून को हाथ में लेने के मामले सामने आते रहते हैं। शातिर बदमाशों तथा आतंकवादियों के साथ पुलिस की मुठभेड़ आम बात है, पर इनमें कितनी जायज और कितनी फर्जी होती है, इसका पता नहीं चल पाता। न जाने अब तक कितने हीं मासूम लोगों को फर्जी मुठभेड़ में मार डाला गया होगा।

श्रीनगर के दैनिक समाचार पत्र कश्मीर टाईम्स के दिल्ली ब्यूरो प्रमुख "इफ्तिखार गिलानी"ने सिहरा देने वाली आपबीती "जेलं में कटे वो दिन" लिखकर देश की पुलिस की हक़ीकत सामने ला चुके हैं। 1968-75 में आई।ए।एस. रह चुकी मैगसेसे अवार्ड से सम्मानित "अरुणा रोय" ने भी अपनी पुस्तक "जीने और जानने का अधिकार" में पुलिस की हक़ीकत को ब्यान कर दिया है। उन्होंने लिखा है, कि "एक नक्सलवादी या आतंकवादी, पुलिस के साथ एक मुठभेड़ में मारा गया" जब हम अखबारों में ऐसे समाचार पढ़ते हैं तो हमें क्या महसूस होता है? बहुत कम ऐसे लोग हैं जो ऐसे समाचार सच मान लेते हैं। ज्यादातर लोग जानते हैं कि "मुठभेड़" का मतलब है "हत्या"

बहरहाल ,पुलिस का यही "मुठभेड़ " एक बार फिर चर्चा में है। हर रोज विभत्स ब्यौरे सामने आने के साथ ही फर्जी मुठभेड़ का मामला राष्ट्रीय विवाद का रूप लेता जा रहा है, जिसके कारण पुलिस का कुरूप चेहरा उजागड़ हुआ है। विभिन्न राजनैतिक पार्टियों के राजनेता भी इस मुद्दे पर अपनी राजनीतिक रोटियां सेकने में पिछे नहीं है। वैसे भी दिल्ली में भी फर्जी मुठभेड़ के मामले आते रहे हैं चाहे वो अंसल प्लाजा का मुठभेड़ हो, कनाट प्लेस या फिर २००२ में ओखला में हुई मुठभेड़ हो। पंजाब, जम्मू व कश्मीर में तो यह घटना लगभग हर दिन होते रहते हैं। गुजरात में सोहराबुद्दीन शैख़ व तुलसी राम प्रजापति के मामले को भी अभी ज्यादा दिन नही हुए हैं। इससे पूर्व भी अहमदाबाद के राजनीतिक संरक्षण प्राप्त और बाद में राजनीतिज्ञों के लिए "बेकाम के" हो चुके अब्दुल लतिफ को फर्जी मुठभेड़ में मार दिया गया था। अहमदाबाद में हीं समीर खान , मुम्बई के उपनगरीय इलाका मुमरा की १९ वर्षीय मुम्बई कॉलेज की छात्रा इशमत जहाँ का फर्जी मुठभेड़ को भी बहुत ज़्यादा दिन नही गुज़रे हैं। अर्थात देश के हर राज्य में इस तरह की कारनामें गठित होती रहती है। वास्वतव में देखा जाये तो फर्जी मुठभेड़ों की संस्कृति, कानून के शासन की पराजय है।

अगर फर्जी मुठभेड़ों के इतिहास की बात करें तो इसका इतिहास काफी पुराना है। लेकिन मुठभेड़ के बहाने अपराधियों को खत्म करने का चलन 1968 में आन्ध्र प्रदेश और पश्चिम बंगाल से शुरू हुआ। आतंकवादियों, माओवादियों, नक्सलवादी के मार गिराने के नाम पर फर्जी मुठभेड़ों का सिलसिला अब भी जारी है।

फर्जी मुठभेड़ क्यों होते है? आखिर पुलिस क्यों इसका सहारा लेती है? ऐसी कौन सी बाध्यता है, जो इनको फर्जी मुठभेड़ के लिए प्रेरित करता है? क्या फर्जी मुठभेड़ का जिम्मेदार सिर्फ पुलिस है, या इनके साथ कोई और भी है?

वास्तव में, पुलिस जब अभियुक्त को कानूनी कार्रवाई के तहत दोषी सिद्ध करने में नाकाम साबित होती है तो इन विकल्पों को चुनती हैं। पुरस्कार की चाहत, नाम व शोहरत भी यह कार्य करने पर मज़बूर करता है। बल्कि सच्चाई यह है कि बड़े कुख्यात अपराधियों को भी इसमें दखल होता है। कभी-कभी कारपोरेट जगत भी पूरी तरह हावी रहती है। कोई व्यक्ति यदि परेशान कर रहा हो तो पहले उसकी सुपारी अपराधियों को दी जाती थी, अब यह काम पुलिस वाले फर्जी मुठभेड़ के माध्यम से अंजाम देने लगे हैं।

पुलिस का यह कुरूप चेहरा सिर्फ भारत में ही नहीं बल्कि भारत के बाहर भी कई देशों में फर्जी मुठभेड़ होती है। मानवाधिकार की सर्वाधिक वकालत करने वाला देश अमेरिका भी इस मामले में पिछे नहीं है, अक्सर पद, पहुंच तथा व्यक्तिगत महत्वकांक्षा हेतु पुलिस आधिकारी ऐसे कारनामों को अन्जाम देते रहते हैं।

कहीं न कहीं इन मुठभेड़ों के पिछे राजनैतिक उददेश्य भी छिपे होते हैं। 2002 में फर्जी मुठभेड़ के मुददे को "देश प्रेम " बनाम "देश द्रोह " की कार्रवाई करार दिए जाने के पिछे एक बड़ा कारण गुजरात चुनाव था, जिसका फायदा नरेन्द्र मोदी ने हासिल किया और अब भी स्थिति कुछ वैसी ही है, क्यूंकि कुछ ही महीनो लोकसभा व विधानसभा के चुनाव होने वाले हैं। दिल्ली में शुरू हुआ यह "खेल" देश को किस दिशा में ले जायेगी, यह आने वाला समय ही बतायेगा।तबतक आप मुशीरुल हसन के बयान पर राजनैतिक उठापटक का "खेल" देखते रहीये।

अफरोज आलम 'साहिल'

Some Questions about the Counter-Terror Operation at Jamia Nagar, New Delhi

A team comprising activists, academicians and journalists visited the site of the police operation against alleged terrorists staying in an apartment in Jamia Nagar in the afternoon of 20.09.2008 (Saturday). Two alleged terrorists Atif and Sajid, along with Mohan Chand Sharma, an inspector of the Delhi Police's Special Cell died in the operation while a third alleged terrorist was arrested.

On the basis of our interactions with the local residents, eye witnesses and the reports which have appeared in the media, we would like to pose the following questions:

1) It has been widely reported that in early August this year Atif, who is described by the Delhi Police as the mastermind behind the recent terrorist bombings in Jaipur, Ahmedabad and Delhi, underwent a police verification exercise along with his four roommates in order to rent the apartment they were staying in Jamia Nagar. All the five youth living in the apartment submitted to the Delhi police their personal details, including permanent address, driving license details, address of the house they previously stayed in, all of which were found to be accurate. Though the police is now denying the veracity of the verification form, Mr. Rehman, the caretaker of the flat, has vouched, on camera, that he accompanied Atif to the Police Station for the verification.

Is it conceivable that the alleged kingpin behind the terrorist Indian Mujahideen outfit would have wanted to undergo a police verification- for whatever purpose- just a week after the Ahmedabad blasts and a month before the bombings in Delhi?

2) The four-storeyed house L-18 in Jamia Nagar, where the alleged terrorists were staying, has only one access point, through the stair case, which is covered by an iron grill. It is impossible to leave the house except from the staircase. By all reports, the staircase was taken over by the Special Cell and/ or other agencies during the counter-terror operation. The house, indeed the entire block, was cordoned off at the time of the operation. How then was it then possible, as claimed by the police, for two alleged terrorists to escape the premises during the police operation?

3) The media has quoted 'police sources' as having informed them that the Special Cell was fully aware about the presence of dreaded terrorists, involved in the bombings in Jaipur, Ahmedabad and Delhi, staying in the apartment that was raided.

Why was the late Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma, a veteran of dozens of encounter operations, the only officer in the operation not wearing a bullet proof vest? Was this due to over-confidence or is there something else to his mysterious death during the operation? Will the forensic report of the bullets that killed Inspector Sharma be made public?

4) There are reports that towards the end of the counter-terror operation, some policemen climbed on the roof of L-18 and fired several rounds in the air. Other policemen were seen breaking windows and even throwing flower pots to the ground from flats adjacent or opposite to L-18. Why was the police firing in the air and why did it indulge in destruction of property around L-18 after the encounter?

5) The police officials claim that an AK-47 and pistols were recovered from L-18. What was the weapon that killed Inspector Sharma? Was the AK-47 used at all and by whom? Going by some reports that have appeared (see 'Times of India', 20.09.08), the AK-47s have been used by the police only. Is it not strange that alleged terrorists did not use a more deadly and sophisticated weapon like the AK-47, which they purportedly possessed, preferring to use pistols?

We feel that there are far too many loose ends in the current story of the police encounter at L-18 in Jamia Nagar. We demand that a fair, impartial and independent probe into the incident be initiated at the earliest to answer the above questions as also any other ones that arise from the contradictions of the case.

Signed/- Shabnam Hashmi (Anhad), Satya Sivaraman (Independent Journalist), Manisha Sethi (Forum for Democratic Initiatives) , Tanweer Fazal (Forum for Democratic Initiatives) , Arshad Alam (Jamia Millia Islamia), Neshat Quaiser (Jamia Millia Islamia), Pallavi Deka (General Secretary, JNU Students' Union)

Fact Finding into Jamia Nagar encounter killing .....

Date of first visit to Jamia Nagar area by team 21 September 2008
1. The police sitting outside L-18 say that on the day of the incident 6 companies of police were here. Each company has 72 men.

2. Our observation- Nobody could have escaped from the building – the police in the first statements after the encounter otherwise said (as reported in electronic media) that 2 persons escaped during the encounter. The building has only one entrance and exit and there is a gap between the terrace of this building and next. It appears that this story of there being 5 men/boys is based on interrogation of Saif who was the youth who was arrested while Atiq and Sajid were killed during the encounter.

3. Zeeshan who also shared the flat/room had left at 8 am as he had a test(entrance test of some kind. Headlines Today reported him gone to IIPM for taking some reexaminations there, a Channel apparently has also run a clip of administratives of IIPM attesting to the fact!(More DETAILS?) was arrested later in the night of 19 Sep. According to Ameeque (cousin of Atiq and independent doc. film maker who has worked extensively for Doordarshan and editor of paper Samyik Varta), Zeeshan was wondering what he could do when he heard about the encounter after he got out of his examination and called some people about advice. Some told him to run away- but he didn't want to as he had not done anything wrong. He got the phone no. of the TV Channel 'Headlines Today' and went to their office to give his statement. This was partially aired. As he was coming out of the TV channel's office he was arrested by the police. He too is being called a terrorist.

4. Account of Badr TasleemMr Badr Tasleem (works in Jamia in admn.) who lives in L-17 Jamia Nagar (next door to L-18 where the encounter took place on 4th floor) says that he first thought crackers were being burst but then he had some doubts and came out of his house to see what was happening. The sounds of the gunshots were coming from L-18 – there were already some men, i.e. presumably special cell men and the residents of the house, up there. He heard a scream. The gunshots continued. Then a group of men led by a man in kurta pyjama (who Mr. Tasleem has identified in one newspaper photo- he was possibly a plainclothes special cell person) with guns came running by asking for the way into the building (L-18) and ran up- planning among themselves as to who would "cover" whom (in the event of firing upon them).
Gunfire continued from the top floor of the house. There was no police cordon that he could see around the house or even too much in the lane. At least no one in uniform. After some time they brought down one man who was wearing a white shirt and blue tie- he was supported on two sides by two persons. Mr. Tasleem later learnt that this was Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma. There was no blood on the front of his shirt/clothes when he was brought down, except a small spot or mark on the right of his shirt. (not sure about this at all). The firing continued after that. They then brought down one person but completely wrapped up so he could not see who it was. They then brought another person's body but that was not covered. He could not see whose bodies these were.The first time he came out of his house hearing gunshots (which were already being fired) was around 11 am and they continued till about 11.40. There was no police cordon before the Special Cell people had gone upstairs- ie before the gunfire started. And even when he got out of his house to see what was happening he saw that there were only 5-7 policemen around. There was no barricade at the end of the road either. The full force came only after 11.20 a.m. or so. A very large number of policemen came. Before that there were Special Cell (or STF as everyone here calls them) people in plainclothes but they could not tell.

5. Account of Ex-Councillor Mr. Asif Mohammad(He was independent councilor and won from the entire area – including Sukhdev Vihar, Maharani Bagh etc- i.e not just 'Muslim' areas and had taken up the incident of fake encounter of Abu Samal in the same area in the month of Ramzan in 2002 (check). In that case the police had made two eyewitnesses disappear. The people had held demonstrations in front of police station etc- he was then arrested and detained as a 'SIMI' member for eight and half months in jail and for some more months under NSA as they said he was with LeT. He was implicated in 24 cases and is presently an undertrial.) He arrived on the spot around 11.10 or 11.15 am.
According to him there was police presence in the area from the night. Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma was seen at the juice stall outside at 11 pm on the night of 18th Sep. (He heard this from one of the local youths who has been a petty criminal and recognized Inspector Sharma). He says that there are eyewitnesses (who stay in house opposite L-18) who say that police 'Gypsies' went past the house twice at night – once at around 2-3 a.m and once at 4 am. People were awake on account of Ramzan schedule and they saw these. (We found no eyewitness nor much corroboration of this police presence from before. There was of course a lot of checking in the area after the blasts.)He said that these boys had applied in the local police station (PS Jamia Nagar) for tenant verification – and there was a copy of this pending application with him. The application is stamped and received on 21 August 2008. The copy was with the person who was the caretaker of the house Abdur Rahman who works with PWD and lives nearby, who was acting on behalf of the landlord who lives in Ghaziabad (according to rent agreement, landlord's address was Aligarh). Abdur Rahman showed this to some TV channels and after that he was also picked up. Police wanted him to give them the form. They have also picked up his son Zia. They are now trying to say that this form is fake, their stamp on it is fake etc. However various NGOs also can distribute the form, Asif Mohd. said, and also one can download it from the net- they could look different therefore.Atiq who was killed used to earlier stay in Sangam Vihar (??) …If they were planning blasts would they in the application for verification have submitted their original village address (part of driving licence given as proof) – and PS (Sarai Meer, dt. Azamgarh). Also they put in the application after the blasts in July and before the blasts in Delhi. Would they if they were mounting such an attack have given these truthful and original addresses?Also all 5 names of those who were renting the house (Zeeshan Ahmed, Md. Saif, Md. Sajid (24 years) and Md. Sajid (20 years) and Mohd.Khalid) were added on the tenant verification form.
Asif Mohammad knows the area and the PS Sarai Meer in Azamgarh- and knows that the police there have had no complaints regarding the families of these youth.About a week ago one Abdul Rashid Agwan (??), an older man, was picked up from Shaheen Bagh by the Special Cell and interrogated about SIMI – he had been member (?) – he was repeatedly asked to name youth aged between 25-26 who had been part of SIMI whom he knew. He did not know anyone in that age group being an older man, and said so to the Special Cell who let him go with a threat.Asif Mohd. raised questions about how Mohan Chand Sharma died, and says that according to his informal sources he was not hit from the front but from the back.Badr Tasleem who we spoke to before him had said that Sharma had no blood on the front of his body. By the time Asif Mohd saw him (or saw a man) near the Khaliullah mosque – there was a lot of blood on the lower part of his body.At 11.10-11.15 when Asif Mohd came there was nobody from the media barring one man, one Saba Israr (???). They could not tell about how many policemen there were because many were in civilian clothes.

6. Account of Masih Alam, advocate, resident of L-17 Jamia NagarAccording to Adv. Masih Alam, he first heard firing from inside L-18 at around 10.45 am. (Ruk ruk ke firing ki awaaz aa rahi thi). He got out of his house to see and saw that there were 2-3 policemen at one end of the road (where the barricades now are) and 2-3 persons on the other side. After about 5 minutes (after 10.45 am) one injured person was brought down on foot supported by police…Then some 4-5 people wearing bullet proof vests went running up and then he heard the sound of 5-7 shots being fired. Then 2 policemen went up with a stretcher and got a body down.There was very little police presence at least in uniform till then. There was no one below the flat for instance. But it would be impossible for anyone to escape from there. He does not know who the boys killed were- he has not been formally shown the pictures of those killed and is unable to say if these boys used to stay or visit there often.
As for the account that there was police and Special Cell presence in the area from the night he did not know much about it. There was a lot of checking in the area since the blasts.Area leader Pervez Hashmi (present councilor?) etc came later around 11.10 am or so along with LN Rao and Karnail Singh of Special Cell (the police say that they had taken him, Hashmi, into confidence).The firing according to Masih Alam continued for about 15-20 minutes.

7. According to other observers while there were very few policemen on the street there was a very heavy outer cordon of police at least by 11.15.

8. Meeting at Jamaat Islami e Hind office, Abul Fazl Enclave-Ameek the cousin of Atiq gave his own background and that of Atif's own eldest brother Raghib Ameen, one of the most senior news camera men in Delhi. They had all studied in Shibli School in Azamgarh- had come to the town to study from their village Sanjarpur in Azamgarh District). Atif asked Raghib's advice about what he could do as an elder in the family and Raghib told him to come to Delhi and take admission in Jamia. Atif wanted to stay with friends close to where he was to study and he asked Raghib and shifted near Jamia. He could not get admission into Jamia and joined B.Sc IT course in a private institute at South Extension. He stayed at that time in a DDA flat in Jasola. Had been in Delhi for 3 years. Just recently in July-August he got admission in PG course in Human Resources Management (?) course in Jamia – and Ameek was aware that he had done so. He had also learnt that Atif had shifted closer to Jamia- he had told his brother that his 20 rupees daily conveyance fare would be saved by shifting to this new locality.Ameek did not meet him very often but happened to meet him 10-12 days ago. Atif asked him about a job or work- saying 'kab tak amma abba ke bharose rahenge'. Ameek told him that once he finished the course he could look for work.Atif was 23 years old when he was killed.

9. Sajid the boy who was killed was just about 16-17 years old. (Ameek first told us about Sajid, then Sajid's brother Arshad came –he was in tears and had just come from Dubai where he works- Sajid is his youngest brother – Sajid and Arshad had two other brothers- Arshad was 17-18 years older than Sajid. Arshad told us and gave us a copy of his Identity card showing that Sajid was born in March 1991- therefore not 20 years old as given in police verification form) Sajid had come to Delhi to try to join Jamia in 11th standard. He had already completed his 11th class in Azamgarh but wanted to come here to better his chances. He did not clear the entrance examination, and was hoping to try again.The family had not been officially informed about his death.

10. Ameek told us about the other two youth whom he knew about who shared the room. Khalid was enrolled in the second year of the BSc MLT (Lab Technician's course) at the Jamia Hamdard University.

11. Saif who is arrested had done his MA in History from a University in UP. Ameek met him when he met Atiq 10-12 days ago – he asked Saif what he wanted to do/be…Saif replied that he wanted to be a pilot- when Ameek asked him why he said that he had always been attracted from childhood when he used to see aeroplanes…

12. Zeeshan who was arrested by the police coming out of the Headlines Today office and shown as being arrested in Jhandewalan – had gone to write an entrance exam…had done a management course at IIPM(????) and had left home at 8 am that day. His father teaches at Shibli college, it is an educated family and like many others his father wanted his son to do well, go to Dubai or somewhere and earn some money, get a good job…and Zeeshan too was trying. His family members and everybody else are shocked.

13. We also got copies of a letter sent by the newly formed Indian Muslims Coordination Committee (formed for aiding in this case) to the Delhi State Minorities Commission in which they have demanded a judicial enquiry into this encounter.

14. We also have a copy of a letter sent by one student Suhaib Akhtar stating that one of his co tenants, one Mohd Rashid, s/o Shiv Murat, a research scholar in JMI was picked up on 18.09.08 by police in civil dress and had not reached the house till 20.09.08- the letter is addressed to the Lt. Governor and asks about the whereabouts of his co-tenant.

15. At the Jamia Nagar Police Station, the SHO Mohd Iqbal had gone to Court (there had been 3 arrests in this connection and hence he had to go to court). The Additional SHO also supposedly was not there/ did not want to speak. The FIR registered into the encounter (against the dead accused and others- we don't know contents) is no. 208/2008.(PS Jamia Nagar- 26943227; 26945563; SHO Mohd. Iqbal- 9313609151; ACP (Sarita Vihar)- 26825588)

“It is a Fake encounter”, say the people

Preliminary Statement of the fact-finding team that visited Jamia Nagar, the place of the alleged ‘encounter’ of the police

A team of teachers, students, civil rights activists and intellectuals visited the site of the alleged encounter of the police with the ‘terrorists’ as claimed by them, on the 24th September 2008. The team comprised of Prof. Siddique Hassan, Deputy Amir Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, SAR Geelani, Reader, Zakir Hussain College, Delhi University, Dr. Waqar Anwar, Jamaat-e-Islami Hind, Dr. SQR Ilyas, Editor, Afkar-e-Milli, Suvojit Bagchi, Journalist, Anil Chamaria, Journalist, Dr. Karen Gabriel, Reader, St. Stephens, DU, Rona Wilson, Secretary (Public Relations), Committee for the Release of Political Prisoners (CRPP), Mahtab Alam, Association for Protection of Civil Rights (APCR), Banojyotsna Lahiri (JNU), Vanessa Chisti (JNU) and Sumati Panikkar (Independent Researcher)

The following is a synopsis of the preliminary findings of the team. This will soon be followed by an exhaustive report of the team after putting together a lot of background information along with more findings and inputs. The exhaustive report will be an elaboration of the following statement of facts with substantive documentation.

Of fear, terror and suspicion
The team started its investigation at 11.30 AM on 24 Septemeber in Jamianagar area under Jamia Nagar police station. Even five days after the encounter the tension was palpable in Jamia Nagar & the adjacent areas. People were seemingly scared to talk to the fact-finding team. The stress & tension, generated after the encounter, was evident. People were nervous and requesting us NOT to mention their names under any circumstances. In the University premises the team had to face hostile queries whether we were from the media. The hostile media trial of the entire Muslim community that accompanied the bomb blasts was visible right from the premises of the university to the area of the encounter where the team visited. We felt, this is largely because of the witch hunt that ensued after the ‘encounter’ story of the police of two students at House No. L-18, Batla House, Jamia Nagar and the scores of arrests of Muslim youth from the vicinity. In fact, the arrests had already started right after the day of the blasts on the 14th.

In such a scenario, to instil confidence in the people was an uphill task, as they were at the receiving end of the state terror out to brand anyone daring to speak in favour of the deceased in the ‘encounter’ as ‘accomplices’ and ‘masterminds’ of the successive blasts in India. The police action followed by the media trial only parroting the ‘official version’ had created an atmosphere of fear and suspicion among the people. Whosoever the team had talked had the stamp of fear on their face.

The team had to keep in mind the feeling of incarceration and isolation not to say the terror of an authoritarian and prejudiced state that was writ large on the locality. There is definitely the palpable fear of the people of anyone and everyone picked up and framed by the police, who have a story for every occasion.

Police Siege and the wages of state terror
To start with, the Gali where the House No. L-18 is located has been barricaded with a huge posse of police laying siege to it and the surrounding buildings. No one is allowed to enter the House No. L-18. The constables of Delhi police told us, albeit politely, that they need to ask for permission from higher authority to let us go close to the building. We are allowed after about 15 minutes. However, we were not allowed to enter the building, L-18. Rather, a man who is a resident of the house was asked to come out and give his version. As we spoke to that man a contingent of police officers, constables, plain clothes officers from special branch were surrounding us. We got this man’s ‘version’ in the middle of all these. We also came to know, the key of the house (L-18) is with the police and they had to go undergo thorough checking whenever they ventured out or returned. Even the people staying in the nearby buildings also had to go through the police scanner. It was as if they were under house arrest. The children in the household were facing trauma-induced depression and had to resort to medical care. We also came to know, the kids missed their all important examination because of questioning by police on 19th September. They get scared of any kind of sound or noise thinking that it was a gunshot. The fear of anyone becoming the target of a vicious police action had taken over the psyche of these young minds. We also came to know two more families residing in L 18 have left the place after the encounter.
On further investigation we came to know that one family which has one woman pregnant left the house, because that woman was getting stressed under the circumstances.
The heavy presence of the police, in uniform and plainclothes, has only aggravated the situation. When we asked police personnel present in and around the area as to why the police is still laying siege to the premises the authority did not have any satisfactory answer.
It is also important to mention here, through out the process, we were followed by special branch officers. Infact, a journalist, who was not the member of the fact-finding team and a member of the team, was routinely questioned about the details of the other team members. Anyone, even from mainstream media visiting the area more than once, is called up by special branch.
The flat where the so-called ‘encounter’ has taken place in still sealed. The alleged seizure of weapons, laptop, etc., from the flat was done without any proper witness to the whole exercise. None of the members of the flat, not to say, of the locality was witness to the high profile ‘seizure’, which the police celebrated in the media. The conduct of the police was and is still shrouded in secrecy and arbitrariness that have only invited further wrath of the people. This in no way will instil confidence among the people. On the contrary, it has added further misery to their lives.

“It is a Fake encounter”, say the people
We could not find a single person in the entire locality who could agree with the story of the ‘encounter’ of the police. There is a complete unanimity in the opinion of the people about the one-sided nature of the firing and the time for which it continued. Further, there are some witnesses, (who would not want their name to be mentioned) who vouched that these youth who had fallen to the bullets of the police were just ordinary youngsters who had taken their career and their studies seriously. These witnesses have said that initially there were gunshots for 15 minutes. Then it stopped for a while. Then after a while the police went on firing intermittently for quite sometime positioned on the terrace and the Gali to show that it was a real encounter. In between, the police went on shouting loudly to create a feeling of real exchange of fire and project a real encounter. Later, the police declared that the encounter was successful. After the firing, the police had destroyed the flowerpots of the L-18 flat and the adjacent flats and used the pieces of the broken pots to break the windowpanes of L-18 to make it look like a REAL encounter.
No one told us about an exchange of fire. It was ‘only one kind of sound’, they all emphasized.
After visiting the rear and the sides of the L-18 flat, no one could have bought the story of someone escaping as there was only a single entrance, which the police had already been covering. It was impossible for anyone to jump from the fourth floor flat, as it would have resulted in near death or fatal injury. It demolishes the theory of police that two of the ‘dreaded terrorists’ have run away. More importantly, one of this ‘terrorists’, Zeeshan, surrendered to Headlines Today Channel, within hours of ‘jumping and running away’ from a fourth floor flat. Why will he do that – the locals ask.
There are also witnesses to three men dragged down from the fourth floor to the ground floor. None of the body of the deceased was shown to anyone. All the bodies were covered by clothes and were kept in a vehicle which was taken inside the porch of the flat.
The people of the locality are asking unanimously: Where have all the bullets gone?
Why Police is NOT allowing media to go inside L 18 and shoot and talk to people even almost after a week? Do they have anything to hide? Normally it is done within a few hours!
Why the police did not try to arrest these ‘masterminds’ alive? This is randomly done in India & rest of the world. In that case it could have helped the administration more. Isnt it?

Clear evidence of point-blank shots on the head of Sajid
The photographs after autopsy of Sajid (17 year old) show clear marks of 7-8 gunshots on his head from above. These shots, which are at point blank, cannot happen in the case of an encounter. Because in case of an encounter, where the shots are fired from a distance, the wounds would open up.
Police Version of fake Tenant verification disproved
Prominent citizens of the locality have already questioned the story of the police of fake tenant verification. They have said that none of the details provided including the driving license, address, rent agreement paper were forged. The claim of the office stamp of the authority as fake was also disproved by the citizens in a press meet as they showed their own copies of tenant verification which was carrying the same official stamp. The Locals also feel, even if the forgery has been done by the owner and the caretaker of the house – NO INFORMATION GIVEN ABOUT ATIF IS FALSE. Factually, as we came to know from local people, not a single information given – whether it is about his last residence, parentage, driving license or permanent address – proved to be wrong
Mystery shrouding the death of Inspector MC Sharma
No one is ready to believe that Inspector Mr. M C Sharma was killed in an exchange of fire.
There are several witnesses having seen him taken away by two men in plainclothes to a Santro car stationed near the Khalliullah Masjid with bleeding wounds of bullet shots on his shoulder.
It is intriguing to note as to why such an officer of importance for the Special Cell of the Delhi Police went for an operation without any protection and why he was walked all the way to the car. Moreover, the Hospital, Holy Family, which treated Mr Sharma has been told by police not to talk to press or civil society – that what we found out.
The people of the locality are asking: Why would the most dynamic of Special Cell Officers, Mr M C Sharma, would go to an operation – where he may nab the masterminds of deadly blasts – without wearing Bullet Proof Jacket?
Moreover, the police team also made sure that the ‘terrorists’ are hiding in that flat by sending an officer in the guise of mobile salesman, prior to sending the rest of the squad. So after confirming the whereabouts of the ‘masterminds’ how could a senior officer go without any protection?
Simmering tension
Any discerning eye can make out the simmering tension pervading the entire area of Jamia Nagar and its vicinity. Everyday is passing by with a new arrest and yet another story from the side of the police. The role of the media, except a few reports in certain dailies, has more or less demonized the Muslims. More and more Muslim youths are being picked up. Even those who have gone and surrendered before the police or media have been framed under several charges. In these circumstances the people are one in saying that they are being pushed to a situation where they have total distrust of what is becoming in the name of ‘war against terror’.

Our Demands:
1. Immediately withdraw the police siege of Jamia Nagar in general and the Gali where house No. L-18 is situated.
2. Stop harassing Muslim youth under the garb of ‘combating terror’.
3. Initiate a high-level judicial enquiry of the entire episode.
4. Make public the autopsy report of the two youth in the ‘encounter’.
5. Make public the autopsy report of Inspector MC Sharma. There should also be a judicial enquiry into the circumstances leading to his death.
6. Press & civil society should be allowed to talk to doctors/authorities of the Holy Family Hospital
7. The State has to provide for the medical counselling of the residents of Jamia Nagar, who have been affected by this encounter
8. Police should stop releasing selective photos from CCTV cameras to Press to build opinions against Muslims.

RTI applicant in Bihar told to foot bill of Rs 78 lakh

Santosh Singh
When Gupteshwar Singh, a social activist from Agiyaw in Bihar’s Bhojpur district, filed a Right To Information (RTI) plea, he did not bargain for the price he would be told to pay — Rs 78,21,252.
On June 5, Singh filed an application (No. 4,461) seeking date-wise details of the distribution of foodgrains and kerosene under the Public Distribution System in Udvantnagar, Agiyaw, Tarai, Garhani, Sandesh and Sahar — all in Bhojpur district — between 2000 and 2008. He also sought photocopies of dealers’ payment receipts.
On July 18, Bhojpur supply officer Jawahar Prasad wrote to Singh that “all the desired information was ready with details”, but he would first have to deposit Rs 78,21,252 — the estimated cost of photocopying the documents. “If you do not turn up... by the said time (July 25), it would be understood that you do not need information at all,” Prasad wrote.
Applicants under the RTI Act must pay Rs 2 for each document that is photocopied. Singh said he had never asked for photocopies of all PDS documents of the last eight years, and Prasad was being “vindictive”. Prasad was not available for comment.