[Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice in mock anti-terror drill

Tue Mar 16 02:21:10 IST 2010

Dear All,

In both the Gujarat case as well as the Batla House case, there is a  
possibility that the two police officers who were shot at, were shot  
at by their own colleauges for reasons best known to them. At least  
in the Gujrat case, we know this for a fact. And as we know, a  
detailed forensic investigation has always been stalled in the case  
of the killing of Mohan Chand Sharma. Evidence is contaminated, or  
(like Hemant Karkare's bullet proof jacket) simply missing. The  
bullets that killed Sharma were never found, (or were 'lost') and the  
exact exit wounds, and direction of fire, never properly established.  
And readers on this list will remember my remarks about the  
photograph with Mohan Chand Sharma's clean shirt front, which is  
certainly anomalous, given that he died from a serious abdominal injury.

  Police officers in Anti Terrorist squads dying mysterious deaths is  
nothing new.

Rajbir Singh, the much decorated officer of the Delhi Police Special  
Cell was shot dead apparently because of his shady property dealings  
and underhand real estate business. But, till date, no motive has  
ever been established. Mohan Chand Sharma's un-bloodstained shirt has  
always left is ghostly presence behind. And the suspicions expressed  
by senior retired policmen about Hemant Karkare's death have also not  
died down. Recently, a policeman who was part of the team that  
apprently apprehended a young man caught as a 'suspect' in the Batla  
House case, died in a mysterious accident while on the way back to  
Delhi from the scene of the arrest.

One cannot rule out the fact that in  all these cases, the officers/ 
policemen concerned, either knew things they should not have known,  
or were being considered as liabilities for some reason, or that they  
simply needed to be done away with due to reasons to do with internal  
rivalries, and that the context of 'anti terrorist' special  
operations and encounters, simply acted as convenient buffers for an  
inner gangland killings, or targetted 'friendly fire; assasinations,  
except for the fact that the gangs involved happened to be in uniform.

The 'identity' of the policemen in question may prove to be less  
significant than the simple fact that they were somehow inconvenient  
for people higher up, or sideways, in the chain of command.

Stranger things than this have been known to happen.

best

Shuddha

On 15-Mar-10, at 5:54 PM, A.K. Malik wrote:

> Dear Mr Javed,
>                You are writing as if you were witness to the crime.  
> Similar things people have been telling about Batla House encounter  
> while truth has emerged where an MP (unfortunately a Muslim one)  
> helped the culprits run away and even paid money.I never intended  
> to write a muslim MP but seeing your response that even Muslim  
> police officers are not safe safe.What if the officer had been  
> Hindu, then it would not have made any news.Let the investigation  
> results come out, only then you should comment .If what you are  
> saying is taken on its face value, there should not have been any  
> Muslim police officer alive as the Hindu police officers outnumber  
> substantially, there should be some  sensibility limit to the  
> interpretations being made.
> Regards,
>
> (A.K.MALIK)
>
>
> --- On Mon, 3/15/10, Javed <javedmasoo at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> From: Javed <javedmasoo at gmail.com>
>> Subject: [Reader-list] Gujarat DCP shoots Muslim inspector twice  
>> in mock anti-terror drill
>> To: "sarai list" <reader-list at sarai.net>
>> Date: Monday, March 15, 2010, 3:20 PM
>> ‘Sir, don’t... I am not a
>> terrorist,’ pleaded ATS inspector as DCP
>> shot him twice
>>
>> Even Muslim police officers are not safe from fake
>> encounters....
>>
>> Surat: Posted: Sunday , Mar 14, 2010 at 0319 hrs
>>
>> “Sir, don’t... I am not a terrorist.”
>> This is what Gujarat Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) inspector
>> Shabbirali
>> Saiyed says he had shouted, just before Deputy Commissioner
>> of Police
>> Subhash Trivedi shot him twice in the abdomen from point
>> blank range
>> during the mock anti-terror drill that went haywire at the
>> Surat
>> Airport on February 24.
>>
>> Saiyed still cannot comprehend how and why he was shot by
>> the senior
>> officer. No officer was supposed to carry or use live arms
>> and
>> ammunition. That apart, Saiyed told The Sunday Express that
>> the entire
>> drill had been meticulously planned, including the exact
>> role each cop
>> would play. “All the officials in the drill had been
>> briefed
>> thoroughly about the role of each. I was to be only an
>> observer tasked
>> to find out what mistakes the commandos and other officials
>> commit
>> during rescue operations.”
>>
>> DCP Subhash Trivedi, SP Barot of ATS and a few other
>> officers were
>> tasked to act as doctors and rush to a bus in the parking
>> lot of the
>> airport in which some officials acting as terrorists were
>> holding
>> ‘passengers’ hostage.
>>
>> Saiyed recalled: “Subhash Trivedi rushed to the bus and
>> caught hold of
>> me tightly, though I was supposed to be only an obeserver.
>> I pleaded,
>> “Sir , don’t... I am not a terrorist, I am the
>> observer.” But he
>> refused to let go of me and we had a scuffle. I was left
>> struggling to
>> get out of his clutches when he pulled out his service
>> revolver and
>> opened fire, from point blank range. I fell and lost
>> consciousness.”
>>
>> The .38 calibre bullet entered through his stomach and
>> exited. Saiyed
>> is still to recover but is now out of danger.
>>
>> Interestingly, the DCP, according to Saiyed, was not even
>> tasked to
>> take on or grapple with any ‘terrorist’ in the drill,
>> since he was
>> acting as a member of a team of ‘doctors’ at the spot
>> who would only
>> recce the scene to find out how many hostages and
>> terrorists were in
>> the bus. “He was to have only ascertained their numbers
>> to pass on the
>> information to the others in the actual rescue team, so
>> that they
>> could plan and execute the operation,” according to
>> Inspector Saiyed.
>>
>> Surat police Commisioner Shivanand Jha confirmed it.
>> “Saiyed was
>> deputed as an observer on the spot. He was standing near
>> the entry
>> door of bus. DCP Subhash Trivedi was tasked to act as a
>> doctor to
>> recce the scene and find out how many hostages were being
>> held by how
>> many terrorists, and the weapons they possessed.” The
>> ‘doctor’,
>> apparently, was not expected to carry any weapon, much less
>> a loaded
>> service revolver.
>>
>> So what went horribly wrong? The police claim they have no
>> answers to
>> share, yet. “We are still doing a free and fair
>> investigation. At this
>> moment it is difficult to come to any conclusion. We have
>> taken the
>> statements of several airport staff who were also present
>> there and
>> statements of several police officials who witnessed the
>> incident,”
>> Jha said.
>>
>> When The Sunday Express contacted Trivedi, he refused to
>> comment.
>>
>> The investigation is being headed by Jha’s deputy and ATS
>> chief Ajay
>> Tomar. A complaint was registered at Umra police station
>> soon after
>> Saiyed was shot while state DGP S S Khandwawala directed
>> Tomar to
>> carry out a departmental inquiry.
>>
>> “After preliminary investigations, we have found that the
>> incident was
>> an accident and the firing had not been done deliberately.
>> But we are
>> waiting for the final report and the report from ballistic
>> experts
>> before coming to any conclusion,” said Khandwawala. Asked
>> if an FIR
>> would be registered against DCP Trivedi, Khandwawala said:
>> “Let the
>> report come and later, on its basis, we will take further
>> action. Both
>> the officials are from police department _ they are not
>> some criminals
>> _ so it is premature to say anything at this juncture.”
>>
>> http://www.indianexpress.com/news/sir-dont...-i-am-not-a-terrorist- 
>> pleaded-ats-inspector-as-dcp-shot-him-twice/590554/0
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>
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Shuddhabrata Sengupta
The Sarai Programme at CSDS
Raqs Media Collective
shuddha at sarai.net
www.sarai.net
www.raqsmediacollective.net