A fact finding team of eminent academics and lawyers has found numerous flaws in the encounter theory that led to the death of a Delhi police personnel. Given the tradition of fake encounters by Indian police, it is necessary that an independent investigation review what really happened. 

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A fact finding team constituted by Janhastakshep, Campaign against Fascist Designs and People's Union for Democratic Rights (PUDR)  went to look into the issues being raised in context to alleged an encounter at Batla House, Jamia Nagar on September 19, 2008.  Members of the team were, Dr. N.K. Bhattacharya retd. Principal of a Delhi University College, Shahana Bhattacharya of Delhi University, Dr. Ish Misra, Delhi University, Prashant Bhusan, Advocate Supreme Court, Mr. N. D. Pancholi, Advocate, Delhi High Court, and Ms. Shreerekha, a teacher in Jamia Milia Islamia. The team was accompanied by Prof. Mir Imtiaz of Jamia Milia Islamia.
 
Some of the findings of the Fact finding exercise undertaken on September 21, 2008
           
1.                  L-18 Batla house, the scene of the two 'encounter' killings of Atif and Sajid, is a four storied building with two flats on each floor and a single stairwell. There is only one entrance to the building. All the other spaces are grilled and cannot be used to get out of the building. The building is abutted on the left and right by two buildings which are only about two floors high. There is a narrow lane to the front and an even narrower lane at the back.
 
2.                  Documentary evidence proves that Atif had submitted his correct details to the police in a tenant verification form duly received by the police on August 21, 2008. The form is a printed form which has been countersigned and bears the seal of the Jamia Nagar police station. The form also has his correct mobile phone number.
 
3.                  The shooting seems to have begun at around 11 AM, Eyewitnesses state that the regular police arrived about fifteen minutes thereafter, and the media arrived five to ten minutes after the police arriving, by which time the area had already been cordoned off.
 
4.                  The police did not show anyone the faces of the victims of the 'encounter' killings. Neither have they allowed the media access to the scene of the crime which has been sealed. By the time the media arrived, Mohan Chand Sharma had apparently already been carried down four floors of stairs with wounds, which eventually proved fatal. There seems to be a photograph of a conscious M.C.Sharma being carried out of the building by two of his aides showing some bleeding. People who saw him a few meters ahead, however, state that he was bleeding profusely when he was being carried past the Khaliullah Masjid in the vicinity.
 
5.                  Zeeshan who also shared the flat was writing the IIPM entrance test at the time of the alleged encounter and was arrested later in the night of 19 September from the Head Lines today studios at Jhandelwalan, soon after he had given an interview at the television studio which was partially aired. As he was coming out of the television channel's office he was arrested by the police. He too is being called a terrorist.
 
Questions Regarding the Police version
 
1.                  How many masterminds are there? A succession of organizations such as the HUJI, SIMI and the IM have already been named by different State police as the organizations responsible for the blasts that have taken place in Jaipur, Ahmedabad and Delhi and the bomb scare in Surat. Atif suddenly becomes the new mastermind of all the blasts after a succession of other masterminds such as Abu Bashir, Tauqeer, etc. His name was never mentioned earlier, not even a few days ago when the sketches of the Delhi Bombers were released.
 
2.                  When did the police get to know that they were terrorists? If they knew before they entered, why did they not seal the exit to the building and ask the alleged terrorists to surrender without going in?
 
3.                  If the Special Cell knew that they were terrorists why was M.C.Sharma not wearing a bullet proof vest if the Special Cell was going to arrest/apprehend dreaded terrorists?
 
4.                  If the Special cell did not know that they were terrorists before they entered, how did they claim soon thereafter that these were the terrorists and mastermind behind the blasts without even the opportunity of an interrogation of the person arrested and a thorough investigation of the evidence from the scene of the alleged encounter?
 
5.                  Could two persons have escaped, considering there are no escape routes save one which was the entrance from which the STF entered heavily armed?
 
6.                  If they were truly the terrorists behind the bombings they would surely not have given their correct personal details in a tenant verification form to the police on the 21st of August, 2008, just after the Ahmedabad Blasts and before the Delhi Blasts.
 
7.                  The Special Cell now claims that the verification form is forged, despite the fact that it is countersigned and bears the seal of the Jamia Nagar Police Station. However these documents were handed over to the media by the caretaker of the apartment within two hours of the alleged encounters and hence he did not have enough time to have carried out such a forgery.
 
8.                  As per news reports the police has so far not carried out a Test Identification Parade by eyewitnesses who claim to have seen those responsible for the Delhi bomb blasts? Was a TIP done before the burial of the two boys who were shot dead? Has the police tried to match the sketches of the accused made at the time with those being arrested? What are the results of such efforts if they have been made?
 
9.                  In view of the continuing speculation and controversies surrounding the 'encounter' and a version of the postmortem reports being discussed by the press, why have the post-mortem reports of the two youths and the policeman who were killed in the house not been made available to their families and to the public?
 
10.              Has an FIR been lodged or investigation launched into the incident of the 'encounter' itself? *
*This is what the law requires.  NHRC guidelines on  encounter killings clearly state "That when information is received that death was caused in an encounter as a result of firing by the police, prima facie the ingredients of culpable homicide under section 299 of the IPC are satisfied. That is sufficient to suspect that an offence of culpable homicide has been committed."
 
11.              Since, according to the press statement issued by Holy Family Hospital on September 19, 2008, X rays of the chest and abdomen of M.C.Sharma had "not revealed any foreign bodies", what has happened to the bullets fired on him? have they been collected from the scene and sent for forensic analysis?
 
Preliminary Conclusions
 
1.                  The version of the police that they had learnt that these youths were behind the Delhi Blasts when they went in to arrest them is clearly false since, in that case, Inspector Sharma, and his team who were experienced policemen from the Special Cell and had in fact been involved in several lethal encounters in the past would not have entered the premises at all and certainly not without bullet proof vests.
 
2.                  The police gave the version of these youths being the terrorists behind the Delhi, Ahmedabad and Jaipur blasts and of Atif being the mastermind to the media soon after the alleged encounter. Till this point the police had not had the time to interrogate Saif, who had been arrested, or to thoroughly investigate the laptops recovered from the scene of the incident etc. and hence had no actionable information on the basis of which to make such claims. Therefore the police version that they were the terrorists behind the blasts with Atif as the mastermind clearly seems to be a story concocted by the Special Cell before they went to pick up these people.
 
3.                  The story of 2 people escaping from the building is an utter lie.
 
4.                  The subsequent picking up of Zia ur Rahman, the caretaker's son, and of Shakeel and others on the pretext that they were also involved in this conspiracy is highly dubious and smacks of vindictiveness against individuals who came out with statements and evidence that contradicted the police version.
 
5.                  The claim of the police that the tenant verification form, handed over to the media by the caretaker, Rahman, only a couple of hours after the incident, is forged, is not at all credible. There appears no reason for Rahman to have forged such a form and kept it with him in advance, and there was certainly no time for him to have forged the papers and handed them to the media soon after the incident.
 
6.                  Saquib Nisar, who the police claim provided logistical support for the serial blasts in Ahmedabad and the bomb scare in Surat, was taking an MBA examination from July 23 to July 28, 2008. Copies of his admit card and exam sheets signed by the examiners are available.
 
7.                  None of the accused who are alive and arrested have legal representation or counsel. Moreover the police have been releasing information supposedly procured from them during interrogation to the media. This further adversely affects their chances of justice.
 
Recommendations
 
1.                  It is imperative that an independent, time bound comprehensive probe has to be carried out by a sitting Judge of the Supreme Court of India into this incident and the claims of the police, to answer these questions. In any case, the NHRC guidelines on encounter killings require such an investigation.
 
2.                  The continuing random arrests and harassment of residents of Jamia Nagar and students of Jamia University since the time of the Delhi blasts and particularly after the alleged encounter must stop immediately.
 
3.                  The competition among various police agencies to claim credit for arresting dreaded terrorists and masterminds is resulting in the targeting of innocent Muslim youth. This must stop immediately. It appears that after making SIMI the scapegoat, the police has now shifted focus to Azamgarh which is being dubbed the nursery of terrorism. This targeting and victimisation of young Muslim boys from Azamgarh or those who may have been members of SIMI in the past, as terrorists involved in the blasts, has led to an enormous sense of insecurity, fear and resentment in the Muslim community of the country in general and young Muslim boys from Azamgarh or those who may have been members of SIMI, in particular.
 
4.                  It is very unfortunate and disquieting that significant sections of the mainstream media, particularly the electronic media, has been uncritically amplifying the successive absurd stories and concoctions of the police, built only on supposed confessions made before the Police. This has not only defamed a large number of apparently innocent people but is also encouraging rapid communalisation and polarisation of people in the country.
 
 
SIGNED
Dr. NK Bhattacharya
JAN HASTAKSHEP                           PUDR
Issued by N. Pancholi azadpancholi@yahoo.com – 26 September 2008
 
MD. MAHTAB ALAM: 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 siteof 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 Jamat-e-Islami Hind, SAR Geelani, Reader, Zakir Hussain College, Delhi University, Dr. Waqar Anwar, Jamat-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 theGali 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.
 
 
 
 
The Team:
Anil Chamaria,
Banojyotsna Lahiri
Karen Gabriel
Mahtab Alam
Rona Wilson
SAR Geelani
Siddique Hassan
SQR Ilyas
Sumati Panikkar
Suvojit Bagchi
Vanessa Chisti
Waqar Anwar