Jamia Nagar encounter: NHRC issues notice to police

New Delhi, September 26: The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Friday issued notice to Delhi police over the encounter in Jamia Nagar in which two suspected Indian Mujahideen militants linked with serial blasts in Delhi and other cities were killed.

The Commission issued the notice to city Police Commissioner Y S Dadwal and asked him to submit a report on the incident.

The notice was issued on a complaint filed by an NGO, a senior NHRC official said.

Two suspected militants were shot dead in a gun battle with the police in South Delhi's Jamia Nagar on September 19 in which Special Cell Inspector M C Sharma was also killed.

Police had claimed that a 13-member module of the Indian Mujahideen was behind the serial blasts in the national capital which claimed over 20 lives and left about 100 injured.

Five persons were also arrested last week for their alleged role in the blasts.

II.

[The below content is available at: http://www.sacw.net/article41.html]  o o o  Report on The Jamia 'Encounter'  by Jan Hastakshep, Campaign against Fascist Designs and PUDR    26 September 2008  Released to the Press on 26 September, 2008 at a Press Conference in   New Delhi  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 and PUDR