[Reader-list] Fw: FACT FINDING TEAMs jamia shootings (two teams and their initial notes)

[shakeb ahmed]

Hi. 
In the wake of some enquiries we received for publishing/web-hosting etc of these FACT FINDING NOTES - all should take attention that the Fact Finding is still a work in progress, and you may publish and web-host only the Final Report which would be released in coming some days! 
Otherwise treat these notes just as a set of interventionary and in themselves inconclusive thoughts that should give rise to more similar questions of import helping present alternative naratives surrounding the events, rather than helplessly buying into only the Special-Cell stories.


--- On Mon, 9/22/08, shakeb ahmed <ahmed_shakeb at yahoo.com> wrote:

> From: shakeb ahmed <ahmed_shakeb at yahoo.com>
> Subject: [Reader-list] FACT FINDING TEAMs jamia shootings (two teams and their reports)
> To: reader-list at sarai.net
> Date: Monday, September 22, 2008, 12:19 AM
> I.
> Fact Finding into Jamia Nagar encounter killing (date of
> incident 19 September 2008)
> 
> 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 Tasleem
> Mr 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 thispending 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
> Nagar
> According 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)
> 
> OUR EMail addresses
> 
> prashantbhush at gmail.com
> azadpancholi at yahoo.com
> adv.mayank.misra at gmail.com
> kkbhattacharya at gmail.com
> sree.sathi at gmail.com
> ahmed_shakeb at yahoo.com
> shahanabhattacharya at yahoo.com
> ansaraya at yahoo.com
> 
> II.
> 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)
> 
> --
> Arshad Alam
> Center for Jawaharlal Nehru Studies
> Jamia Milia Islamia
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
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