Indian Civil Police & Police Investigations Thread

[Gus]

kvijayan, thank you for accepting that the kanta rao led police team are liars telling 'self-defense' to cover up for killing 20 people.

[chaanakya]

Nellore police arrest 61 T.N. woodcutters

Nellore Police say they are linked to group that was gunned down in the Chittoor encounter.

The Nellore district police on Sunday arrested 61 woodcutters belonging to the border districts of Tamil Nadu during combing operations in the far-flung Marripadu and Veligonda forest areas in the past 24 hours.

Nellore Superintendent of Police Gajarao Bhupal said the police suspect that they are part of the same group of 100 woodcutters, who were allegedly involved in cutting red sanders trees and smuggling the logs from the Seshachalam forests, on April 7.

They reportedly escaped into the forests in Nellore district after the encounter. He said those arrested were from Vellore, Tiruvannamalai, Villupuram and Salem districts. Atmakur DSP Subba Reddy said, “The offenders were moving in two groups of 43 and 18 members . They have been booked on the charges of illegally transporting red sanders logs, resisting employees on duty and attempt to murder.” The police said logs worth Rs. 2 crore were seized from the woodcutters.

Police complaint

Tirupati reporter writes:

Family members of the 20 persons, who died in an alleged encounter in the Seshachalam forest near here, on Sunday lodged a police complaint against the task force members involved in the operation. The relatives of 19 families came from Tiruvannamalai and Vellore districts to Chandragiri police station to file the complaint

[Sachin]

After all the ruckus created, TN labourers (or for that matter labourers from any part of India) will find it tough to continue with the red sandal chopping and smuggling. Police will never forget the mental agony which their brothers-in-arms will face (suspension, court hearings, dismissal and even jail sentence). I expect more rounding up of the labourers and using all available means to make their life a hell.

[chaanakya]

If it results in taking Red sanders from endangered species list and permitting commercial plantation with state support then it might be the happy outcome of this sad episode.

[SaraLax]

The Red Sanders tree logs are a very good source of revenue for the AP state govt (more so, in times of fiscal & financial weakness being experienced by the same govt). The entities controlling the illegal operations involving tree cutting and exporting of such wood logs are also enamoured by the easy money associated with the exporting logs of these trees. The AP govt. has recently earned nearly 1000 crore INR by auctioning these tree logs confiscated from tree stealing entities. Tamil labour (sourced from poor & tribal communities) was being used in good numbers to illegally cut such trees, smuggle them out of AP and land them into the custody of entities involved in the illegal exports business. The kingpins who control this red sanders tree-stealing & illegal wood logs export racket seem to be sitting closer to AP political groups and have not been prosecuted yet.

Apparently AP govt. officials along with TN govt. officials & some NGOs had gone to some of these tribal villages in TN and warned them not to venture in this illegal tree cutting, wood-logging activities. But big sums of money being made available in this illegal, risky operation and the work involved only a few weeks of hardship. Tamil labourers & their agents continued to be greedy inspite of the warning and wanted to earn big money in small time. AP govt did not want to loose its rightful, valuable assets (an important source of revenue too in testing times) to the gang of smugglers and there is nothing wrong about it at all. Unable to eradicate the problem of labourers (better termed as 'foot-soldiers') continuing to stay on the ground and continuing to enable illegal logging of valuable wood and finding that putting them in jails in AP wasn't solving the problem - The AP govt & its police decided to go for stricter laws against such people involved in illegal activities. Namely - provide law enforcers the right to use guns for shooting against these smugglers.

Most of the Tamil foot-soldiers were working with the knowledge that the work they were doing was indeed illegal and that many people who were caught in this activity had been jailed already.
So they were ready to act against the law and cannot be condoned for what they were doing but what this group of 20 people would not have expected was that their lives would be taken away by the AP law enforcing entities. AP law enforcers wanted to have the final say in their fight with the Tamil foot-soldiers and such a tragic event might have been planned to inflict the fear of death among foot-soldiers involved in this illegal work. Tragic circumstance but definitely nobody can say that these labourers were innocent.

When this event is analysed sans any human emotions - it is becoming more evident that this is a case of planned shooting of the inexorable foot-soldiers. Also bumping of AP foot-soldiers would have been problematic for AP state govt. whereas it would be more politically amenable to bump off illegal smugglers from TN. The AP law enforcement seems to have done a very sloppy work in this act of disposing Tamil foot-soldiers. They seem to have not considered a better manner of doing their polishing-off work. There are many loose-ends, holes & flaws in their sequence of actions culminating in the gruesome ending and their manner of presentation of the event to outside world & media. Already there are two Tamils (who lost their relatives & co-workers in this event), who seem to have escaped getting hauled out of some bus (in which their group was travelling) by AP police some hours prior to this event coming out in the media and who are now appearing before NHRC & media with their statements. Some of these holes, flaws - when investigated and put under the light, would show up their involvement in this seemingly stage-managed 'killed during self-defence' presentation to outside world. Maybe this is what made the AP police chief get angry and shout at media people during the initial press briefings. The wives & dependent children of these killed people have to suffer now because their husbands & men wanted to earn money through illegal manners and a couple of the widows have filed cased against AP law enforcement entities in the courts in TN. The media, Human rights organizations, TN political organizations and AP opposition parties will most likely not loose focus on this event and will attempt to keep this event in the thoughts of the common man. In order to show that they are a just ruling entity - The AP govt might eventually be forced to take action against some of the law enforcement officials.

As to what will be the political fallout of this event in AP - I am not sure (after all i am just a simpleton from TN).
Maybe somebody with ears close to the ground in AP can shed some light ?.

One of the many unintended consequences of this event is that - APSRTC buses are still unable to do their business of moving people between AP & TN but TN state buses & private bus companies are able to do the same !!. I myself cancelled some tickets yesterday with APSRTC at the Chennai-CMBT bus station and local employees feel it will take another week at minimum for their buses to start doing business in TN.

[ramana]

Also why doesn't AP request an all India export permit process for red sanders. In other words the exporting entities have to show a valid export permit at time of debarkation.

[chaanakya]

Tirupati red sanders encounter: Murder case against STF men, Andhra Pradesh informs high court

With more and more questions being raised on the April 7 killing of 20 people in a Tirupati forest by the red sanders special task force (STF), the Andhra Pradesh government informed the High Court at Hyderabad Wednesday that a murder case had been filed against “unknown” STF personnel involved in the “encounter”. red sanders encounter

Additional Advocate General Dammalapati Srinivas informed a division bench comprising Chief Justice Kalyan Jyoti Sengupta and Justice P V Sanjay Kumar that an FIR was filed on a complaint from Muniammal, the widow of a Tamil Nadu woodcutter, at the Chandragiri police station.

Related

High Court poser to Andhra: Can cops be booked for murder?
Uproar over Andhra Pradesh, Telangana encounters: Rajnath speaks to Chandrababu Naidu, KCR
Andhra Pradesh Police kill 20 working for ‘forest smugglers’, 7 shot in the face

In her complaint, Muniammal said her husband Sashi and others were daily wage labourers who were going to find work when Andhra Pradesh policemen took them away and shot them dead, that it was not an encounter as police claimed. The Indian Express had first reported how Andhra Pradesh policemen spared Sekhar, one of the men from Vettagiripalayam, as he was seated next to a woman on a bus from Tiruttani to Renigunta while seven others from his village were pulled out and taken to custody, hours before the “encounter”. Sekhar told villagers and his relatives that he was spared because police thought he was the husband of the woman next to him.

The killings led to an uproar in Tamil Nadu where political parties condemned the “brutal” police action and said 12 of the dead were labourers from their state. Tamil Nadu chief minister O Panneerselvam wrote to Andhra Pradesh counterpart Chandrababu Naidu, seeking a “credible and speedy inquiry” into the incident.
The FIR was registered under IPC sections of murder (302) and kidnapping (364) against unknown personnel of the STF. The High Court was also told that the government was setting up a special investigation team (SIT) to conduct an inquiry.

Taking suo motu cognisance of Muniammal’s complaint, the High Court had earlier made her a petitioner in the case filed by Andhra Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee (APCLC) which had alleged that it was a case of “murder” and the victims were poor labourers from Tamil Nadu. Muniammal moved an application Wednesday through her counsel seeking directions to the Andhra Pradesh government to once again conduct post-mortem examination of the bodies of her husband and five others by an expert medical team and videograph the entire process.

The six bodies are preserved in a government hospital in Tiruvannamalai district of Tamil Nadu. Referring to this, the High Court directed the AAG to file before it by Thursday the post-mortem report and inquest report conducted earlier on the bodies. The matter was subsequently posted for Thursday

[kvjayan]

kvijayan, thank you for accepting that the kanta rao led police team are liars telling 'self-defense' to cover up for killing 20 people.

After all, they would learnt the trick from the able TN police!

[svenkat]

http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/op-ed/seshachalam-forest-encounter-tribals/article7106092.ece?ref=relatedNews

n April 7, 20 woodcutters, mostly tribals from Tiruvannamalai and Dharmapuri districts of Tamil Nadu, were shot dead by a special task force in the Seshachalam forests of Chittoor district in Andhra Pradesh. The incident was another in a series of similar ones, symptomatic of the increasing conflict over resources, stoked by crony capitalism and the rising violence of state and non-state actors. The law is often mute, helpless to prevent the bloodletting.

Rights activists call such incidents, officially declared as ‘encounter’ killings, premeditated murder. Highly expendable, this impoverished cannon fodder seems available in plenty from forests and the fringe villages around them.

Two questions get lost in the cacophony of allegations and counter allegations: Why do forest-dwellers risk their lives? And why are forests open freely to the forest mafia?

Rich mafia, poor tribals

Forests have always been an open resource for livelihood and cultural interaction for their tribal inhabitants. When these vast areas were officially notified as ‘forests’, the traditional rights of the original inhabitants to access the forest for food, medicinal plants, fodder, fuel, water, cultural and spiritual activities were mostly not recognised. The result: everything that they traditionally did in the forests became criminal acts overnight.

Revenue maximisation was the stated goal of the government and the once open forests were now locked in the tight grip of forest officials, whose job was to fell commercially valuable timber and transport it out. However, since it was only the tribal people who knew the forest and had the skills to extract its resources, they were used as labour. Forest settlements were established within forests, initially for ‘coupe felling’ or indiscriminate clearing of forest land, later replaced by selective felling, where forest officials marked old, diseased or other trees for felling.

However, with their main source of livelihood and life taken away, the forest dwellers became vulnerable to the forest mafia, mostly powerful, armed and violent gangs from the hinterland whose eye was on the protected timber and wildlife. Working through agents such as local shopkeepers or money-lenders, the mafia preyed on the tribals’ poverty and bonded them into illegal work in the forests. Forest department officials were no match for these gangs, often succumbing to their pressure or just turning a blind eye.


Now exploited by both forest officials and the mafia, the forest-dwellers were involved in both legal and illegal activities. But there was always the fear that the tribals would expose the illegal goings-on. There was also the need to show that some degree of forest protection was underway. This led to forest dwellers being routinely arrested for forest offences. The number of cases was notched up to show efficient forest protection. The forest mafia remained well protected. The odd honest forest officer faced the brunt of mafia anger if he dared to act; it was safer not to. The forest bureaucracy was itself divided within.

In 1980, the Forest Conservation Act was enacted, privileging conservation over revenue maximisation. Afforestation moved to the fore. Non-forestry activities were permitted only after clearance by the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) and the Supreme Court (due to the Godavarman Case continuing since the mid-1990s) and on the payment of Rs.5.8 lakh and Rs.9.2 lakh per hectare as Net Present Value.

As forests became hotly contested assets for ‘development’ projects and its twin other, ‘conservation’ efforts, the forest-dwellers were pushed further down the hierarchy despite laws that granted them recognition of their rights. Even the MoEF conceded that a ‘historical injustice’ had been committed on the forest-dwellers in an affidavit filed in the Supreme Court in 2004 in the Godavarman case.

While becoming increasingly closed to their original inhabitants, forests opened up instead to powerful economic interests, both legal and illegal. Illegal mining cases filed between 2010 and 2014 were a whopping 330,512, most of them forest-related. The price of Red Sanders internationally is 10 times more than the Rs. 20 lakh per tonne it is here. The Seemandhra government anticipates a few thousand crores in revenue from its export, which explains all the special operations carried out against Red Sander smugglers.

The legitimate destruction of forests for the country’s ‘development’ runs parallel with the illegal looting of forests. The forest-dwellers get no share in either but are used, abused, and evicted from their land without proper compensation or rehabilitation. The 10 crore people living on forest land and the 27.5 crore forest-dependent people have been pushed to extreme poverty. Millions have migrated to far-flung places in desperate search of work.

Outside the forests, their rights over revenue land remain largely unrecorded. Those that are recorded fail to be protected by laws that can restore alienated land to the Scheduled Tribes. Without laws in Tamil Nadu that recognise and protect their livelihood or lands, it is no wonder that tribal people were driven to desperately risk their lives for money in the Seshachalam forests.

Looking for solutions

The ill-conceived drive ordered by the MoEF in 2002 resulted in the large-scale and violent eviction of tribals. The resultant nationwide struggle forced the government to enact the Forest Rights Act of 2006. A new paradigm of forest governance began, from governance of a colonised land and people to democratic governance with the law conceding the rights of forest-dwellers. Gram Sabhas were to determine tribal rights and protect, conserve, and manage the forests.

Even sceptics now accept the Forest Rights Act as the only way forward for both forests and the forest people. The Dongria Khondh used it to protect their revered Niyamgiri Hills in Odisha from being hollowed out for mining. The Gonds of Gadchiroli in Maharashtra are now the affluent owners of forest produces rather than mere wage earners.

But a powerful lobby within the forest department continues to resist it. The Act has been challenged by a number of retired forest officials. For instance, in Andhra Pradesh, it was the J.V. Sharma and Ors. vs. Union of India and Ors. case, while in Tamil Nadu, it was the V. Sambasivam vs. Union of India and Ors. case. However, the courts have not stayed the Act, and the cases are now in the Supreme Court.

Official reports too blame resistance from the Forest Department for the poor implementation of the law. The Ministry of Tribal Affairs told the Andhra Pradesh government in November 2013 that the titles issued to ‘forest protection committees’ controlled by the Forest Department contravenes the law, since they should be granted only to Gram Sabhas; but as of mid-2010, some 9.48 lakh acres were still titled to 1,669 Forest Protection Committees.

As of January this year, 29,92,853 hectares of forests have been recognised as belonging to forest-dwelling communities and 15,57,424 titles have been issued across the country. But this is still only 3.8 per cent of the total forest land. And still only about 9 per cent of what is officially recorded as forest land used by forest communities. Forest-dwellers continue to live in hope that the government will abide by its own law.

In Tamil Nadu, not a single title has been issued to tribals till date, although 3,723 titles are ready. Instead, the inhabitants of 2,968 sq. km of forest in four tiger reserves in the State are threatened with eviction, and 7,935 sq. km of forest land have been drawn up as elephant reserves. The utter desperation of the tribal people that makes them venture into forests for illegal work is a result of such moves.

Recognition and legal protection of their rights can alone ensure that forest dwellers get a fair deal. When forests become open, inclusive and come under the watchful eyes of the forest-dwellers themselves, forest protection and conservation become possible.

The Seshachalam killing comes from the delusion of gun-toting commandos that they are protecting forests. Rather than convert forests into conflict zones, conservation is best achieved by those who know the forest.

[svenkat]

http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/chennai/Bodies-of-Woodcutters-Mutilated-Says-8-member-Fact-finding-Team/2015/04/16/article2766517.ece

An eight-member fact-finding team comprising high-level officials has found instances where the bodies of some victims in the Seshachalam encounter were brutally disfigured and tortured as they conducted fact-finding inquiries prior to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) passing a detailed order in Hyderabad on April 23.

Terming the ‘encounter’ cold blooded and pre-meditated murder, one of the members of the eight member fact-finding team and former member of NHRC, Satyabrata Pal, said that he has seen hundreds of cases while serving as a member in the NHRC for five years but rarely had he come across as brutal and as inhuman an act as the killings.

“The men were abducted by armed police and taken to Tirupathi forest area. The (victims’) family members told us that their husbands’ and fathers’ hands were missing, toes were cut, noses chopped and teeth broken,” said Pal. He added there is no evidence to support the ‘encounter theory.’

He also wondered how in an encounter there were no woodcutters who sustained injuries and lived, which is highly unusual. In this ‘encounter’, 20 men were killed, not one woodcutter was injured and lives to tell the tale. “It is a shameful act of the AP police,” said retired Director General of Police of BSF E N Rammohan, one of the eight members. He along with Pal met the family members of some of the victims who hailed from Chittari Hills.

“The persons killed in the act are poor labourers. A (high-power) commission should be established to probe the smuggling and the whole thing should be dug up,” he stated.

Retired judge of Bombay High Court, Hosbet Suresh, who leads the fact-finding team met families of victims in Polur Taluk.

He said, “No law in the country permits police to kill. They have to prevent crimes and not kill innocent people.” The men were killed elsewhere and their bodies were taken to the forest to stage an encounter drama. It is an act of police terrorism.”

Citing Hyderabad High Court’s direction to register a case against the police under Section 302 (murder) of the IPC, the former judge insisted that 20 cases of murder should be filed against the police involved. “Thirteen women, all aged between 20 and 30, are now widows. What is the future for these young widows with small children and elderly parents?” Suresh asked.

Forensic expert, Dr Xavier Suresh said that AP police deliberately left “the bodies exposed to sunlight for several hours. The police did this purposely to destroy evidence on the mutilated bodies,” said the expert and added that fresh post-mortems would divulge the cause of their death and answer many questions.

Advocate B S Ajeetha declared that some of the victims’ skins were darker than usual and some of the victims’ bodies were even skinless as if they had been burnt,

[Gus]

apparently there are three 'escapees'

in a hurry, posting tamil news, will try english version later

http://www.dinamani.com/latest_news/201 ... 767212.ece

ஆந்திர போலீஸாரிடமிருந்து தப்பிய சேகர் கூறுகையில்,

this is the sekar that we already know

போலீஸார் பிடித்துச் சென்ற பின் அவர்களிடமிருந்து தப்பிய இளங்கோ கூறியபோது, துப்பாக்கி சூடு சம்பவம் நடப்பதற்கு முன் இரவில் நகரியில் உள்ள ஒரு பானிபூரி கடையில் நானும் எனது நண்பர் பன்னீர்செல்வம் இருவரும் பானிபூரி சாப்பிட்டோம். பானிபூரி சாப்பிட்டு முடிந்ததும் ஒரு ஆட்டோவில் ஏறி புறப்பட்டோம். அப்போது காரில் வந்த ஆந்திர போலீஸார் எங்களை மடக்கி பிடித்தனர். பின்னர் ஒரு மினி லாரியில் எங்களை ஏற்றிச் சென்றனர். அதில் 15 க்கும் மேற்பட்டோர் இருந்தனர். லாரி சுமார் 1 மணி நேர காட்டு பயணத்துக்கு பிறகு ஒரு வனச்சரக அலுவலக வளாகத்தில் நிறுத்தினர். அந்த பகுதி முழுவதும் இருள் சூழ்ந்து காணப்பட்டது. அப்போது போலீஸார் அருகில் இல்லாததை உணர்ந்த நான் அங்கிருந்து தப்பி காட்டு பகுதியை நோக்கி வேகமாக நடக்க ஆரம்பித்தேன். ஒருவழியாக திருப்பதி நகரை அடைந்த நான் வேலூருக்கு வந்து சேர்ந்தேன். இங்கு வந்த பின்னரே செம்மரம் வெட்டி கடத்திய தமிழக தொழிலாளர்கள் சுட்டு கொல்லப்பட்டதாக தகவல் வெளியானது. அதில் என்னுடன் வந்த பன்னீர்செல்வமும் சுட்டுக் கொல்லப்பட்டது தெரிய வந்தது என்றார்.

பாலச்சந்தர் கூறியபோது, நான் என் நண்பர்களுடன் கட்டட வேலைக்காக ஆந்திரா புறப்பட்டு சென்றேன். பஸ் தமிழக எல்லையை அடைந்த போது மது வாங்குவதற்காக பஸ்சில் இருந்து இறங்கினேன். ஆனால் நான் திரும்பி வருவதற்குள் பஸ் புறப்பட்டு சென்று விட்டது. நான் வேறு பஸ்சில் ஏறி திருப்பதி சென்றவுடன், என்னுடன் வந்தவர்களை தொடர்பு கொண்டேன். அப்போது அவர்கள் பஸ்சில் வந்த எங்களை ஆந்திர போலீஸார் பிடித்து வைத்துள்ளனர் என்றனர். இதனையடுத்து அங்கிருந்து உடனடியாக ஊருக்கு புறப்பட்டு வந்து விட்டேன். மறுநாள் அவர்கள் சுட்டு கொல்லப்பட்ட தகவல் அறிந்து வேதனை அடைந்தேன் என்று தெரிவித்துள்ளார்

2. ilango says he escaped from police after being detained, says one of the dead is a panneer selvam, an acquaintance.

3. balachander says he got down from a bus for booze and missed the bus. says people who traveled with him called later that police have detained them. says he learned they were dead next day.

[Gus]

After all, they would learnt the trick from the able TN police!

subject is - did the kanta rao led police team shoot the suspected criminals in self-defense.

can you stick to that?

note that i have enough decency and common sense to not generalise in ANY of my posts as AP police.

[Gus]

http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/ ... 775155.ece

In a major breakthrough, the Chittoor police have seized a huge haul of red sanders logs worth around Rs six crore after conducting simultaneous raids in West Bengal and Tamil Nadu on Sunday and Monday. They also arrested two notorious smugglers Soundara Rajan and Saravanan alias Madras Saravanan. A 40-member police from Chittoor district, with the cooperation of the local police in both the states, seized about 12.5-tonne logs. In West Bengal, the police conducted raids and seized the logs after unearthing two red sander dumps in Hasimara, on the borders of West Bengal and Bhutan and arrested Soundara Rajan, a Tamilian who settled in Myanmar and is engaged in smuggling.

Another police team raided three more dumps in Gandhi Nagar and Avadi in Chennai and seized a large number of logs and arrested Saravanan.When contacted, Chittoor SP G Srinivas said acting on credible information that smugglers were maintaining a godown in West Bengal, the police raided the same and arrested Soundararajan and seized 8 tonnes of logs. “The accused was already produced in a court in West Bengal and we are bringing him to the district on a transit warrant,” he said.

On the Chennai raid, he said based on information after investigating a case registered under the Gudipala police limits, they learnt about the red sander godowns in Chennai and conducted raids. After seizing 4.5 tonnes of logs, the police arrested Saravanan. Stating that steps are on for bringing the seized logs to the district, he said all the other accused behind the godowns in West Bengal and Chennai will also be arrested soon.

if they shoot people like this guy when they start out - this smuggling issue would not have grown to existing levels.

[Gus]

http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/ ... 775152.ece

The Andhra Pradesh government on Monday submitted before a Division Bench of the Hyderabad High Court the post-mortem report of all the 20 persons who were killed in the sensational Seshachalam police encounter, that took place near Tirupati on April 7. It, however, sought time for submitting the report of re-post-mortem of the six deceased which has been conducted as per the court order.

When the matter came up for hearing, the government informed the court that the re-post-mortem of six of the deceased persons was also conducted in Tamil Nadu and that it was awaiting the reports. After perusing the first autopsy report of the forensic doctors at Ruia Hospital, who had conducted the post-mortem of the 20 deceased, the Bench, comprising Chief Justice Kalyan Jyoti Sengupta and Justice PV Sanjay Kumar, had asked the AP State Advocate-General about the reports of the re-post-mortem.

When AG P Venugopal sought time for submitting the same, the Bench granted time till next Wednesday for filing the reports. It may be recalled that the Bench had last week ordered the re-post-mortem of the six deceased persons - A Sasikumar, Murugan, Murthy, Mahendran, Perumal and Munusamy while hearing petitions filed by thier relatives. The bodies were preserved at the district headquarters hospital in Tiruvannamalai in Tamil Nadu.

confusing. re-post mortem was already done in TN. are they going to do re-re-post mortem?

[chaanakya]

Call records may nail red sandalwood killings; NHRC seeks records of personnel involved
Or it may free them. Do they have conversations recorded? I think not unless specific interception orders are issued by AP or by MHA.

The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) on Thursday sought the mobile phone numbers and call data records of all the Special Task Force (STF) personnel involved in the alleged encounter on April 7 in which 20 red sandalwood cutters were killed.

On the second day of its Camp Sitting at Hyderabad, the NHRC took up the matter pertaining to the death of 20 red sanders. After hearing the submissions made by human rights and civil liberties activists, and the State Government, the Commission has directed that mobile numbers of all the officials involved in the police action, medico-legal reports of the police personnel injured in the action are also to be submitted to the Commission. The Commission also decided to send its own team for inquiry at the spot.
Related

NHRC favours judicial enquiry into Chittoor firing
Andhra Pradesh Police kill 20 working for ‘forest smugglers’, 7 shot in the face
Killing of red sanders 'smugglers' 'serious violation of human rights': NHRC

The three-day ‘Open Hearing’ and ‘Camp Sitting’ of the NHRC on the matters of human rights violations related to the states of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana began at Hyderabad Wednesday at Dr. MCR HRD Institute. The NHRC’s order regarding mobile phone records may reveal the location of the STF personnel were involved in the alleged encounter in the face of allegations from the families of the woodcutters that they were picked up from buses and shot in cold blood.

On April 15, the Andhra Pradesh Government informed the High Court at Hyderabad that a murder case was registered against unknown police personnel in the alleged encounter on April 7 in which 20 red sanders woodcutters were shot dead by police. Additional Advocate General Dammalapati Srinivas informed a division bench comprising Chief Justice Kalyan Jyoti Sengutra and Justive P V Sanjay Kumar that based on the complaint filed by the widow of a woodcutter, Muniammal, at the Chandragiri Police Station stating that her husband Sashi and others were daily wage labourers who were going to find work when a team of AP police took them away and shot them dead, and it was not an encounter as police claimed.

The FIR was registered under IPC sections of murder (302) and kidnapping (364) against unknown personnel of the Special Task Force which conducted the operation. Meanwhile, the High Court at Hyderabad adjourned to April 28 the hearing on a writ filed by father of alleged SIMI activist Vikaruddin Ahmed, who was killed in an alleged encounter in Nalgonda in Telangana on April 7, seeking filing of criminal cases against the personnel involved in the case.

Vikaruddin’s father Mohammed Ahmed filed a writ seeking CBI investigation and booking a murder case against the policemen who shot dead Vikaruddin and four others on April 7 when they allegedly tried to attack the police escort.

[kmkraoind]

Police to get 1,000 body cameras

NEW DELHI: Traffic police have ordered 1,000 cameras that can be worn on the body and record action and conversation of cops and violators when a vehicle is flagged down.

Police wanted these cameras for quite sometime to handle rogue drivers who call up their "contacts", threaten policemen and even attack them when fined. The request for procuring the cameras was made in February, but was delayed due to funding issues. The cameras are now expected to arrive this month.

The devices, being imported from a US-based company, will cost about Rs 50,000 a piece. They can be clipped to the pocket. The high-resolution cameras will also have a screen to show the recorded clip to the violator. Feeds would be seen live from the police control room as well.

Similar cameras for cars and bikes have also been ordered. "Our aim is to move away from manual challaning system, which has the possibility of errors and corrupt activities," said a senior traffic cop.

Delhi Police commissioner BS Bassi has suggested cops carry hand-held cameras or cellphones with cameras to record interactions with public.

I sincerely hope that within 2-3 days all city police will get such equipment.

[Sachin]

A good article by D.Sivanandan IPS, who was either CP or Jt.CP in Mumbai Police.
Good cop, bad cop? Not quite
Speaks about the challenges which the police force is now facing, and how stress is getting built up.

[Gus]

cellphone records show truth

http://indianexpress.com/article/india/ ... -massacre/

A close scrutiny of the Call Detail Record (CDR) reveals that two of them were travelling for most of that night, and arrived at the encounter spot — Chandragiri Mandal near Rangampet village — only at around 2.30 am on April 7, barely three hours before the “encounter”. The records also show that a third victim had reached the Tamil Nadu-Andhra border, over 100 km from the encounter site, at around 5.30 pm on April 6, while the cellphone of the fourth remained active till at least 7.55 pm on April 10.

All four were shot dead on April 7, between 5.30 am and 6 am, by a group of forest guards and members of a police task force formed to prevent smuggling of red sanders, according to the FIRs.

The call records, however, support the version of the three witnesses in the case who told National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) that they were picked up by members of the task force and forest guards in plain clothes, the previous day. The CDRs were of the same cellphone numbers that police used to identify the victims – of the 20 killed, 11 had registered cellphone numbers, according to investigators.

The CDRs of a majority of the victims show their phones were switched off or not available April 6 evening onward, almost the same time as they were picked up, as per the witnesses. The Indian Express examined the CDRs of Perumal (37), from Vettagiripalayam village, Palani (35) from Kalasamuthiram village, Magendran (25) from Gandhi Nagar village, and Munusamy (35) of Padaveedu village.

lets see what vijay and rama come up with?

not an apology for sure.

[Gus]

where are the 'this is genuine encounter of killers who attacked police' folks?
----

indian express reporter arun janardhan doing good work on this case.

http://indianexpress.com/article/india/ ... ion-marks/

The Indian Express reporter Arun Janardhanan was among the first to reach the site of the “encounter” near Tirupati on April 7, about six hours after 20 alleged red sanders smugglers were shot dead by Andhra police and forest guards. He took over 100 photographs and 10 video clips of the bodies laid out at the site and found that they raise serious questions about the police version that they were shot in “self-defence”.

detailed observations.

Body No: 16 Perumal, 37
From Vettagiripalayam in Tiruvannamalai district, Perumal is survived by his wife and three children, a boy and two girls, all below 10 years old. Perumal is said to have taken some of the victims on the trip offering them a job in Tirupati.

Observations: Body lying on its back, head smashed, with brain spilling out; bleeding around the upper part. “The injury to the head was probably caused by a heavy stone or a blunt instrument,” said Dr P Chandra Sekharan, a former director of the Tamil Nadu Forensic Sciences Department, who examined the photographs and video clips taken by The Indian Express of 10 of the 20 bodies.

Body No: Unverified. Palani, 35

* From Kalasamuthiram in Tiruvannamalai district, Palani, a tailor, is said to have offered work to at least 11 victims who joined him on the journey. He was survived by his wife and a three-month-old daughter.

Observations: Jeans unzipped and belt unbuckled, as in many other bodies. Injury caused by a blunt instrument on the right arm. “It looks like he tried to defend himself against an attack,” said Dr Sekharan.

Body No: 20, Lakshmanan, 23

* From Sitheri Hills, Dharmapuri

Observations: Body lying on its back. Clad in innerwear over which are shorts and trousers. Bullet mark on left frontal region of the head. Severe injury on the back has led to severe bleeding. Bullet mark on stomach has hardly caused any bleeding. “This shows the body must have been shot after death,” said Dr Sekharan.


Body No: 18 Name Unavailable

Observations: Body lying on its back with bent legs which, Dr Sekaharan said, indicated a “death struggle”. Drag marks seen on the right side of the body smeared with blood-soaked earth. “It may have been dragged through rough terrain,” he added.

Body No: Not verified Name Unavailable

Observations: Bleeding from an injury found on the back — “may been caused by thrusting of a bayonet or similar instrument,” said Dr Sekharan. Body wearing two trousers, neither stained with blood. Both trousers unbuckled and zipped open with the outer one not fully pulled up to the waist. Deep imprint of foot on the right side of the body near the leg.

Body No: 11, Mahendiran, 23

* From Pudur, Gandhi Nagar, Tiruvannamalai

Observations: Tapering blood marks on the stomach from left to right, blood-soaked innerwear. “It is suspected that the genitals could have been severely injured or cut as the shorts worn are profusely blood-soaked in the pubic region,” said Dr Sekharan. A bullet injury below the right chest is smeared with blood. The right hand and shoulders have burn marks with flesh exposed in multiple patches.

Body No: 3, Sasikumar, 34

* From Vettagiripalayam, Tiruvannamalai

Observations: Fully blackened body, especially the chest and stomach region, and blistered skin peeling away. “It was clearly exposed to fire,” said Dr Sekharan. Injury on the left arm appears as if flesh had been removed successively or more than once. Blister marks are seen on the right and left arms along with deep injury marks.

Body No: 4, Harikrishnan, 52

* From Arasantham village, Dharmapuri. His son Balachander, a survivor and a witness before National Human Rights Commission, had taken him along for the job in Tirupati based on a call from Palani. Balachander missed the bus at Tiruttani, en route to Tirupati, when he stopped to have a drink with another worker.

Observations: Bullet injury on stomach out of which the blood was oozing . “This shows the bullet injury was caused probably immediately after death or during a semi-conscious state,” said Dr Sekharan.

Body No: 5, Paneerselvam, 22

* From Melkanavavur, Jamunamarathur, Tiruvannamalai district

Observations: Bullet entry mark on chest with no blood flow. “This shows it was shot after death,” said Dr Sekharan. A lot of blood is visible on the right and left of the body. “This major injury was probably caused by a weapon, not a firearm,” said Dr Sekharan. The entire body, especially the chest and stomach region, is blackened and skin layers on the right hand have peeled off, exposing flesh.

Body No: 6, Sivalingam, 42

* From Karukkampatti, Dharmapuri

Observations: Right and left feet, left hand and the right palm have blister marks. “This may have been due to acid flung on the skin or direct exposure to fire,” said Dr Sekharan. Blackened and broken skin, especially on the face, indicates the body had been exposed to fire. Burns marks on the left side of face, laceration over nose and chin, broken front teeth, burnt left earlobe and broken neck in hyper-extended position. “These suggest he had undergone torture before death,” Dr Sekharan said. Brain matter is scattered around the body. A torn red vest with an injury caused by what, Dr Sekharan said, could have been a bayonet.

What the logs show

The red sanders logs found lying next to some of the bodies at both encounter sites have white paint smears, marks of chipping from axe-like instruments, and dust and dirt covering the ends that do not look as if the logs were freshly cut.

The logs were all darkened and fresh chisel marks are visible on portions where certain markings previously existed.
“There are also chisel marks and markings to indicate they may have been seized earlier, before the encounter. There are also termite galleries visible on the wood which shows it was stored somewhere else earlier,” said Dr Sekharan.

“All three wood logs seen may have been seized previously; markings of the seizures and chiseled marks are clearly seen. Splashes of white paint or similar marks on the wood logs should be probed as they would have happened in where the logs were stored. There is no reason for such marks to be present,” he added.

One photograph shows two logs flanking body No.6. “A person running away or fighting will not fall so uniformly between two logs placed in this parallel manner,” said Dr Sekharan. There were no marks on the ground to indicate he was running or fighting.

[Gus]

http://indianexpress.com/article/india/ ... e-handled/
Dr P Chandra Sekharan, a former director of the Tamil Nadu Forensic Sciences Department, examined photographs and video clips taken by The Indian Express of 10 of the bodies of the 20 men killed near Tirupati on April 7, and said that the images suggested a strong likelihood of a “cold-blooded, gruesome murder”.

I think this is a cold-blooded, gruesome murder. There are signs of injuries, including bullet marks, on bodies that appear to have been caused after death. I have been part of investigations in many murders, including the Rajiv Gandhi assassination, and analysed digital evidence on alleged war crimes in Sri Lanka. But this is more gruesome than any case I have handled in my lifetime. If police say they fired at hundreds of people, how did all victims have bullet injuries only on the upper part of their bodies? There was no blood found on the ground, other than bleeding from the bodies.

Firing at hundreds of violent people would cost not less than 500 rounds minimum or even 1,000 rounds normally. Why were there no cartridges at the spot? Were they tortured and killed elsewhere and brought to the spot? When there are 20 victims among hundreds, there would be at least 30-40 people who would survive with bullet injuries; why was not even a single injured smuggler caught alive? How did the rest manage to escape? Why were there no woodcutting tools such axes or sickles, which police said they were attacked with, at the encounter spot? Also, the photos show the bodies lying in an open area with shrubs; there are no signs of any thickly wooded forest nearby from where they would have brought the wood.

http://indianexpress.com/article/india/ ... f-torture/


Blistered skin peeled off in several places; extensive burn marks; one body bizarrely clad in two trousers, one partially pulled up over the other; bullet marks without evidence of bleeding — and a head smashed in so hard the face can’t be recognised.

Clearly visible in photographs and video clips shot and recorded by The Indian Express six hours after the “encounter” on April 7, these features of the bodies of the 20 alleged red sanders smugglers raise several doubts about the Andhra police claim that all were shot in “self-defence”.

* In at least four cases, the heads were smashed “probably by a heavy stone or a blunt instrument”.

* One body was found clad in two trousers, both not stained with blood, both unbuckled and zipped open with the outer pant not fully pulled over up to the waist.

* One body had an injury caused by a blunt instrument on the right arm which Dr Sekharan says “looks like he tried to defend an attack”.

* In one case, there were a bullet mark on the stomach that hardly caused any bleeding. “This shows that the body could have been shot after death”.

* Another body appeared to have sustained injuries which Dr Sekharan says seem to have been caused when it was dragged through rough terrain.

* In another case, blackening and blistering and broken skin, especially the face, indicates, Dr Sekharan says, that the body had been exposed to fire. “This tells us the extent of torture he had undergone before the death,” he said.

These do not square up, Dr Sekharan says, with the official narrative of the sequence of events on the night of April 6-7.

[Gus]

how deep the rot is

http://www.hindustantimes.com/india-new ... 53396.aspx

When Prema-Prayanam, a run-of-the-mill Telugu potboiler, was released in 2013 and sank without a trace, few people knew that the film was produced by alleged smuggler-friendly politician Mastan Vali, with his starlet friend, Neetu Agarwal, playing the lead.

Vali, a YSR Congress Party leader in Andhra Pradesh’s Kurnool district, and Agarwal were arrested last month for their alleged links with sandalwood smugglers.

“Vali did spill some beans. He said a prominent politician — now a YSRCP legislator from the district — had taken about Rs 75 lakh from him for providing patronage,” a top police official told HT.

Kollam Gangi Reddy, a smuggler-turned-YSRCP supporter, is the most prominent face of the illegal trade in the state. Reddy is also accused of aiding Maoist extremists in the October 2013 Alipiri bomb blast that targeted TDP leader and Andhra chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu.

According to police sources, Vijayananda Reddy, who was arrested in Chittoor after Naidu came to power last year, financed about a dozen YSRCP candidates.

In some instances, there is no attempt to hide the links. YSRCP legislator Chevireddy Bhaskar Reddy openly visited the Rajahmundry jail to meet Vijayananda.

In fact, illegal felling and smuggling of red sanders sandalwood trees has been generating huge money for the past decade in Rayalaseema’s Chittoor, Kurnool and, especially, Kadapa district — the stronghold and home of YSRCP chief Jagan Mohan Reddy.

With the TDP in power, the heat is on smugglers linked to opposition parties, but police officials say some TDP men, besides some Congress leaders, are also linked to the illicit business.

In Rayalaseema, where even a small road project cannot be executed without political patronage, the YSR Congress and the TDP spent huge amounts during the 2014 Lok Sabha and state assembly elections. And a part of this funding, particularly for the YSRCP, reportedly came from the coffers of red sanders smugglers.

It was only after April 7 when 20 alleged woodcutters were killed by police in Chittoor, on the border with Tamil Nadu, that the nation started taking notice of the denuded sandalwood forests.

The smuggling proceeds changed the face of the region —from an agriculture-based feudal economy to a violent and glitzy world protected by a very powerful mafia-police-politician nexus.

Despite the encounter and the ensuing strict vigilance, smugglers are managing to bring Tamil woodcutters into the state in big numbers. On Friday, Kadapa police arrested 71 woodcutters from Salem who were travelling in a private bus as a wedding party.

[Gus]

good police work.

http://www.nyoooz.com/hyderabad/115506/ ... -smugglers

About 200 smugglers and labourers have been arrested since the Seshachalam encounter. On Friday alone the police arrested a group of 74 red sanders coolies near Chinamandem village in Kadapa district. The labourers from Salem district in Tamil Nadu had hired a private bus.

The coolies decorated the bus with a floral garland and posed as members of a marriage party. However, Kadapa district police, who got a tip-off about the movement of red sanders smugglers and workers, intercepted the bus and searched the luggage. Only to discover axes, saw blades and other equipment that is used in the felling of trees.

According to police, the labourers were well equipped to stay in the forest for a longer period. They were carrying food sufficient to last for a fortnight. Kadapa police produced the arrested before the media on Friday evening.

[svenkat]

http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tp-tamilnadu/twoday-police-custody-for-suspended-dsp/article7324589.ece

http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil_nadu/DSP-Misused-Power-Kept-Team-in-Dark/2015/06/02/article2844548.ece

With further details emerging on the smuggling of red sanders logs that has allegedly pointed to the former DSP of the Prohibition Enforcement Wing, Thangavel (52) being in collusion with red sanders smuggler, Nagendran and his wife Jothy Lakshmi, the extent of Thangavel’s involvement and misuse of his position and power are coming to light.

It has already been reported that DSP Thangavel led a four-member team (Samuel and Soundar Rajan of PEW and Rajesh and Srinivasan of Armed Reserve) to track down a prohibition offender Kumaresan (50) of Veppamara Salai and his associates. Thangavel and his team seized 3,500 litres of rectified spirit (RS) and confiscated a van during the raid on May 24, but the notorious bootlegger Kumaresan and his associates managed to escape.

DSP Thangavel, however, instigated by Nagendran, led the team comprising of the same four officers, and raided Chinnapaiyan’s (a former PMK party office-bearer) poultry farm. Nagendran had given Rs 3.5 crore worth of red sanders to Chinnapaiyan and he was refusing to return it.

DSP Thangavel found Rs 7.5 crore worth of red sanders logs in Chinnapaiyan’s poultry farm.

A police officer, citing the four policemen’s statement, said that the DSP raided Chinnapayan’s poultry farm near Palur on the pretext that a notorious bootlegger was holed up there.

Upon finding, in the early hours of May 25, a huge haul of red sanders logs, the DSP told the four policemen that he must inform the appropriate authorities to take further course of action against Chinnapayan. He also told the policemen to wait in the vehicle.
“They were not aware that DSP informed Nagendran and after the DSP and his team left the farm, Nagendran and his men, who were waiting outside the farm, took the logs away,” added the official.

The additional Rs 4 crore worth of red sanders logs belonged to yet another smuggler, Perumal, who upon learning that Chinnapaiyan was unable to return the logs, murdered Chinnapaiyan.

With the murder of Chinnapaiyan and the arrest and interrogation of his murderers, Nagendran’s role as a smuggler of red sanders logs came to light.

When police, without being aware, at the time, of DSP Thangavel’s connection, raided Nagendran’s house they not only retrieved the Rs 7.5 crore worth of logs, but also arrested Nagendran and his wife Jothy Lakshmi. DSP Thangavel has been absconding ever since.

“The four policement were drafted into the special team to assist DSP Thangavel to nab the absconding prohibition offender, Kumaresan. But, the DSP misguided and misused the policemen for his own criminal deeds. The four policemen in his team were not aware of it until they were picked up for inquiry regarding the red sanders case,” said a police official privy to the investigation.

Nagendran’s and Jothy Lakhsmi’s confession, while in custody, collaborates with this information.

“The DSP has been paid several lakhs of rupees by the couple (Nagendran and Jothi Lakhmi) in the last four months. The arrest and subsequent interrogation of Thangavel will reveal more,” added the police officer.

DSP Thangavel was promoted to DSP and transferred to Vellore from Padalam Station in Kancheepuram in January.

[svenkat]

http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil_nadu/Cops-Kept-Youth-in-illegal-Custody-for-4-Days/2015/06/28/article2890411.ece

Chief Judicial Magistrate of Vellore, S Sivakadatcham has ordered a judicial inquest into the death of Sameel Basha, who was reportedly illegally detained by the Pallikonda police and beaten up. He died in the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital (RGGGH) in Chennai on Friday.

Basha was allegedly involved in an illicit relationship with Pavithra, a married woman, who reportedly went ‘missing’ on June 13. Following this, Basha was picked up for inquiry by the police.

Talking to Express, N K Mohammed Ghouse, Basha’s father-in-law, said, “We handed over Basha to the Pallikonda police at 11 am on June 15 after the family of the woman (Pavithra) created a ruckus in our area. But the police tied him and beat him up badly.” Basha’s father, K Shah Jahan, said, “The Pallikonda police station inspector took my son to a guesthouse in Ambur on June 15.”

Sources in the police department confirmed that inspector Martin Premraj kept Basha in illegal custody for four days near Pallikonda police station. However, no report was filed stating that he was in police custody.

Ghouse claimed he visited the police station several times between June 15 and 18, but Basha was not to be seen there. The policemen in the station apparently told him that Premraj had taken Basha for inquiry in connection with Pavithra’s case. On June 18, Ghouse called sub-inspector of police Ravi from his mobile phone. “The SI told me that they were taking Basha to Salem for inquiry and disconnected the call,” he claimed. Ghouse also alleged that Premraj finally handed over Basha to him at 12.40 pm on June 19 after obtaining a written assurance from him that they would produce Basha for inquiry, if necessary.

Ghouse added, “(Inspector) Premraj asked me to give hot compression treatment to Basha as he had injuries, but claimed there was nothing to worry about. He said they are not registering a case either. But Basha was in a bad shape and could not move his right hand.”

Basha was taken to the Ambur GH and admitted for treatment at 3 pm on June 19. He was shifted to the Government Vellore Medical College Hospital, Adukkamparai on June 23. He was moved to the RGGGH on June 26 and around 5.40 pm the same day, he passed away, Shah Jahan claimed.

Doctors at the RGGGH said, “Though there were no visible injuries, he suffered polytrauma (multiple traumatic injuries).” The brachial plexus, a nerve which is under the shoulder joint and carries signals from the brain to the muscles that move the arms, was injured. He suffered ‘cardiac arrest’ and died, the doctors said.

http://www.newindianexpress.com/states/tamil_nadu/Shameel-Ahmeds-Lover-Untraceable/2015/06/29/article2892446.ece

he woman, with whom the late Shameel Ahmed (not Sameel Basha as identified earlier) was having an illicit relationship with, has yet to be traced with her mobile phone remaining switched off.

Twenty-three year old Pavithra, wife of Palani and mother of a four-and-a-half-year old daughter, went missing on June 13. Pavithra and Ahmed were working in the same leather factory in Pallikonda till six months ago and were allegedly carying on an extramarital relationship. They were sacked from work after the management learned about their affair.

Ahmed took up a job in a jewellery showroom in Erode and continued his relationship with Pavithra.

On June 13, Pavithra left her home and apparently called Ahmed over the phone to meet him. Ahmed told her that he was at work in Erode and asked her to come to Erode where they met in a house for a day after which Ahmed called and told her family members that he had sent Pavithra back home. However, Pavithra did not return home, police said.
Following this, Palani and his family members picked up a quarrel with Ahmed’s family residing in Ambur. Ahmed’s uncle Khaleel handed Ahmed over to the Pallikonda police on June 15 to look into the issue.

Detained by the Inspector of Pallikonda, Martin Premraj, at his police quarters for four days, Ahmed was allegedly beaten up and handed back to his family on June 19. Ahmed later died on June 26 at the Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital, Chennai.

Meanwhile, Pavithra remains untraceable, with Pallikonda police registering a missing woman case, which will be investigated after normalcy is restored in Ambur, according to a senior police officer.

[svenkat]

http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/tamil-nadu/kin-of-woodcutters-get-govt-jobs/article7510100.ece

Five women related to the victims received appointment orders personally from Ms. Jayalalithaa at the Secretariat on Thursday.

It was a poignant moment on Thursday when Chief Minister Jayalalithaa kissed a baby girl, whose father was one of the 20 woodcutters from Tamil Nadu killed in a firing in Seshachalam forest in Andhra Pradesh during an alleged encounter last April.

Five women related to the victims received appointment orders personally from Ms. Jayalalithaa at the Secretariat on Thursday.

Of them, three women had come with their infants. Moved by their plight, Ms. Jayalalithaa touched the cheek of a baby girl which looked surprised as she kissed her on the head. The other babies looked bemused.

It was a goodwill gesture on the part of the government to give jobs to the suffering family members, most of whom were young widows. They were appointed as assistant cooks, noon meal organisers and anganwadi assistants.

According to an official release, 20 persons from Tamil Nadu were shot dead in the Seshachalam forests near Tirupati on April 7. Immediately, the then Chief Minister wrote to his Andhra Pradesh counterpart saying that the killing should have been avoided, strongly recommended an independent enquiry into the shootout and sought action against the police personnel if it was a case of rights violations.

After taking steps to bring back the bodies, the government granted a solatium of Rs. 3 lakh to each of the families of victims. As the families had requested the Chief Minister to give them government jobs considering their socio-economic status, the Chief Minister gave the appointment orders on Thursday.

[svenkat]

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/bengaluru/Couple-plotted-heist-well-but-getaway-plan-fell-apart/articleshow/55670956.cms?from=mdr

Latest Comment

"Had Dominic decided to hire a cab instead of using trains and buses, tracking would not have been so easy" - so you are giving ideas to someone who wants to follow the footsteps of Dominic? I dont understand, why media keeps publishing something that is not required to be published. By doing so, you are providing more ideas to the culprits.
Karthik Chidambaranathan

Did the Bengaluru police have to give all the details of their investigation?

What do police 'watchers' like Sachin ji have to say about this?

[Sachin]

Did the Bengaluru police have to give all the details of their investigation?
....
What do police 'watchers' like Sachin ji have to say about this?

Was reading about this in other news papers as well. And the TOI report may have added the usual masala stuff, which they are famous for. Hiring a cab may not have worked out in this case, is what I feel. Because a cab is a closed vehicle, and the driver generally has a chance of knowing what is happening inside his cab. Some loose talk, or a couple who look agitated etc, may make the driver suspicious. And if he is a chap who checks news regularly he may even get a hunch that these people are escaping from the law. Cab drivers are generally vigilant, because there have been numerous cases where people have actually booked the cabs, and killed the drivers to get away etc. Now compare this to a bus or a train, where this couple is just one among 100s. The fact with these kind of reports is that we never knew which police officer (i.e what rank) made the statement and what was his role in the whole investigation.

From what I read in the other news papers.
1. The driver's identity was known. And the first thing the police did was to visit every relative of his (in the city) and "warn" them. And now this "warning" seems to have been in the usual police style, as many of the drivers' relatives did not even entertain the couple when they came back the city.
2. The police figured out that the woman Evelyn was a Gelf returnee and had told some relatives about going back there for a long time. Next thing the police did was to issue the "Look out notice" at all airports in India. This ensured that the couple can never leave the country.
3. They managed to take train & bus combination to reach Irinjalakkuda RS, in Thrissur Dt. From there he made some calls from a public booth. Now most likely the calls would have been made to some cell phone number (of his relative) which the police had already put under surveillance. For all you know it may be the very same relative who escorted his son back to VIjayawada. CCTV footage at Irinjalakkuda may have confirmed that it was indeed the robbers who made the call.
4. By then, I guess panic had completely set in the couple and they decided to surrender.

[Sachin]

x-posted from Demonitisation related thread
---

Mean while at Bengaluru, looks the state's police force would get an even more dubious distinction thanks to the demonitisation drive.

• Retired DySP, aide arrested in realtors' robbery case
  Dy.SP (retd.) Babu Noronha, winner of President's Medal for Gallantry. Now accused of robbing a few realtors of their old currency notes. They were lured in by the promise of currency exchange .
• CCB constable among 5 held for abduction
  Again, the deal was to exchange demonitised currency for a commission of Rs. 5lakh. Wife of the CCB Constable went to a police station to file a complaint of abduction (of dear old hubby). The policemen gladly took her to the lock-up where the hubby was currently put up .

[svenkat]

Great job by TN police in managing the situation after demise of Amma.Kudos to Shri S.George,Police Commissioner,who was handpicked by Amma, and who had her confidence.

Deserves appreciation.

At the same time,the society too has matured because of empowerment and awareness and theres little deprivation of the past.One could see that from the no of smartphones being carried by mourners and policemen/women taking pictures and videos.

Also the old ideologies/personality cults have little meaning for the selfie generation.

[Sachin]

x-posted from the Demonitisation thread..

Mean while, Bengaluru sees yet another case of police men becoming thieves. This time it is a Sub Inspector who has been trapped. Again demonetization was the move, which gave the gang new ideas.
Five cops held for robbery
A sub-inspector and four constables were arrested on Monday for robbing a businessman of Rs 35.5 lakh near Peenya on November 22. They colluded with two welders to threaten and rob Gangadhar, a mobile shop owner from Tumukuru district, police said. All those involved in the crime — Sub-inspector Mallikarjun, constables Manjunath, Girish, Chandrashekar and Anantharaju, police informant Jaffer and his friend Bhaskar — are now in custody, a senior police officer told DH.