[Reader-list] What has insanity to do with infiltration? A lot, say figures

[Taha Mehmood]

*
http://www.expressindia.com/latest-news/what-has-insanity-to-do-with-infiltration-a-lot-say-figures/404943/

Indian Express
*Vikram Rautela Posted: Dec 31, 2008 at 0335 hrs IST

*Ahmedabad* *Nearly 7% of those caught were mentally unsound. Intelligence
agencies say it needs to be probed*

If you think illegally trespassing into India or Pakistan requires
intelligence and a sharp brain to dupe extra vigilant security agencies
manning the frontier, then think again. According to figures, more than
seven per cent of those apprehended while crossing the Indo-Pak
International Border in Gujarat in the last five years, were "insane".

Intelligence agencies, however, frown at this insanity theory and say it
needs to be probed properly.

According to figures accessed by this newspaper, a total of 359 people,
including infiltrators as well as those who were caught while attempting to
sneak into Pakistan from the Indian side, were apprehended at the Gujarat
frontier by the Border Security Force between 2004 and 2008. Of these, a
total of 27, according to the records, were insane or at least believed to
be so.

Intelligence officers, however, say that some of these persons could only be
posing as insane in a bid to dupe the police and carry out their mission
discreetly under the guise of a mentally-unstable person.

Additional Director General of Police (Intelligence) P P Pandey said:
"Posing as being insane after being caught is a gimmick we come across
several times. While most of them break down during the joint interrogation
by the different agencies and confess to having pretended being insane
(apparently in a bid to dupe the security agencies), some are genuinely
insane."

Pandey also did not rule out the possibility that some of these people could
be anti-nationals, terrorists or even Pakistani spies. "This possibility
cannot be ruled out completely. We have alerted security agencies and the
state police in the bordering areas to be watchful about this."

The BSF, which nabs such people most of the time, says it hands them over to
the state police. They are later interrogated at the Joint Interrogation
Centre (JIC) in Bhuj. "Whether these pople are actually insane is a matter
of police investigation," said BSF Inspector General G S Shekhawat.

Wabang Jamir, the Superintendent of Police, Kutch-Bhuj, who heads the JIC,
said: "We come across such cases very often. In fact, there was a
Bangladeshi national, who was apprehended by the BSF while trying to sneak
into Pakistan. This man not only pretended insanity but also acted deaf and
dumb for several days. He finally broke down and confessed that it was a
gimmick to dupe us."

At present, the JIC houses close to 100-odd foreigners caught for paperless
travel to India. The JIC also has a competent psychologist, who examines
these people and certifies their mental status. "It is only after this
certificate that we consider such people insane and initiate the process of
their deportation," said Jamir.