One killed, others fled: Encounter reports add a line

In at least nine encounters, the accomplices have managed to escape

By Mateen Hafeez/TNN

Mumbai: Police encounters have got a twist. In addition to the standard ‘the gangster opened fire and the police retaliated’, a special police squad in nine separate encounters since January 1, 2005, after each hit has said that “the accomplice, however, managed to escape’’. Interestingly, all those who allegedly fled from the encounter spot have neither been identified nor caught.

The squad was formed by then additional commissioner of police, Param Bir Singh and last year out of 12 encounters in the city, the squad bagged the credit for eight. Police records of all the nine encounters state the “accused opened fire and the police retaliated. One of the accused was killed while the others escaped.’’ “We try to nab all the aides, but they manage to flee,’’ an officer of the squad said.

On October 14, 2005, the squad shot down Sunil Shinde alias Batla, an alleged accomplice of gangster Faheem Machmach, who police alleged had once collected Rs 25 lakh from a businessman on behalf of the gangster. However, Batla’s family rebutted this. “My son had a vada pav stall at Mazgaon which the BMC employees took away since he could not bribe them. He was without a job for two months,’’ Batla’s father, Narayan Shinde, had told TOI. Police said Batla’s accomplice who had come in a rickshaw ran away during the encounter.

Last week, Aslam Meraj Shaikh, (24), a robber of the Taliban gang, was killed by the squad. The police claimed Shaikh along with two members came near Lotus Junction at JVPD on February 8 to rob a bank and both the associates managed to flee on a bike. Shaikh sustained two bullet injuries and was declared dead on admission to the hospital.

It’s a coincidence that has raised eyebrows. Sources said that officers of at least four police stations participate in every encounter and so they can take all precautionary measures to nab an accused. “How can a person escape from the encounter spot where more than 10 police officers work together in an operation? They could trail the fleeing accused but it never happens. Is this difficult for officers of four police stations from the same zone?’’ asked a senior officer.

Param Bir Singh (now IG) said he did not remember any accomplices fleeing from the encounter spots. “I will have to check the facts from the records,’’ he said.

DCP Amitabh Gupta, in whose jurisdiction (Bandra-Oshiwara) maximum robbers were killed by the squad, refused to comment on the coincidence.

Noted criminal lawyer Majeed Memon said there is always a suspicion that encounters are staged. “Every encounter is said to be an extra-judicial killing by human rights activists. The Bombay high court in the infamous Javed Fauda case has set a list of dos and don’ts for cops involved in encounters. To win the public’s confidence, the police must account for every encounter in the light of those guidelines. When we find that every encounter is similar to the previous one and monotonous in nature, the suspicion of it being fake becomes belief,’’ Memon said.

One of the officers in this squad, inspector Raju Pillai, was conferred the prestigious Police Medal for meritorious service on Republic Day this year. Sub-inspector Dhananjay Daund is said to be behind 20 encounters. The others include inspector Pradip Suryavanshi and assistant inspector Sarvankar of the D N Nagar police, assistant inspector Jagdish Sail (Juhu police), subinspector Juvekar from west region control.

THE GREAT ESCAPES

July 7, 2005: Pandav Putra gang chief Sandeep Deshmukh, (30), shot dead near Bandra Reclamation. His associate fled.
August 25, 2005: Robber Irshad Chand Miya Shaikh, was killed in Oshiwara. His aide managed to escape.
Sept 14, 2005: An alleged Chhota Rajan gangster, Sanjay Nirmal, was killed at Mahakali Road in Andheri. His aide gave police the slip.
Oct 5, 2005: A robber Nisar Ahmed Shaikh alias Munna, (32), was killed in Juhu. In this case too, his accomplice fled.
Dec 6, 2005: Robber, Mangesh Sawant (32), was killed in encounter. t During separate encounters of robbers Raju Baze and Subhash Hadkar last year, their accomplices also fled

The Times of India, February 15, 2006