Encounter Specialists

Continued from https://cvshreejeev.wixsite.com/website/post/007-license-to-kill

Encounter killing is necessarily a collateral damage of an encounter between the Government forces, be it the Police or any armed force, and alleged criminals, where weapons are used either by one party or both the parties. This is primarily an extrajudicial killing, as it does not enjoy legal sanctity and is generally without following due legal procedures, nor is it under the supervision of the Court. It is generally done at the spur of the moment.

Now, who are these so-called “Encounter Specialists”? There is no such term in legal parlance or designations in the Police hierarchy. This is a term coined by the overzealous media to describe any Policeman or member of the Armed Forces who has at least 2 or more killings to their credit. In the Police force, it can be anyone from a Police Constable up to the DySP or ACP. Officers above that level hardly do any field duty and are mostly confined to their desks.

The general perception is that Encounter Killings started in the mid-Eighties in the Mumbai Police force, to break the backbone of the Mumbai underworld, which had reached its peak then. It was the new Police Commissioner Mr. Julio Ribeiro, generally known as a “No non-sense man”, who gave a spine to the Mumbai cops with his able leadership, at a time when their morale was at its lowest ebb. He started the era of Encounter Killings, which later gave birth to “Encounter Specialists”.

Mumbai was a pot of gold for the then Dons. It was the hub of smuggling, along with many other vices. The city was home to big businessmen, the film industry, builders, and of course the regular small and medium businesses. The Dons had their areas demarcated, where they collect their haftas (protection money) and either run all illicit trades themselves or give protection to criminals involved in offenses ranging from robbery, bootlegging, land grabbing, beggar-lords, slum-lords to human traffickers and extortionists. Often skirmishes and shootouts happen when the Dons try to encroach upon others’ territory, but then, as an unwritten rule, the Police turn a blind eye, leaving the gangsters to fight it out themselves and kill each other.

It was when gangsterism peaked in Mumbai that the Legendary Super Cop Julio Ribeiro, like a prince in shining armor, came to rescue Mumbai from the clutches of these gangsters. Till his arrival, the gangsters were having a free run, with no fear of the law of the land. Police dared not get into their crossfires as they would be sitting ducks. But Mr. Ribeiro was made of sterner stuff. He boosted the morale of his boys with enough pep talk, coupled with a free hand to deal with the gangsters. This ushered in an era where the tables were turned against the gangsters and they were running for cover, and their lives. If they don’t fall in line, they were just bumped off. They found it safer inside the jail than outside, where the Damocles sword always hung above their head.

The freehand given by Mr. Ribeiro had its desired effect. Within a short period, many gangsters either fell to Police bullets or surrendered themselves. Gunda raj suddenly fell silent and life in Mumbai came to normalcy. But what started with a good intention, soon strayed and Policemen started seeing this as an easy way out to get rid of anyone. Soon, some of the cops who went on a trigger spree got tagged as “Encounter Specialists”, which boosted their ego.

Generally “Encounter Specialists” take the alibi of self-defense to justify their extra-judicial killings. But they will have a lot of answering, examining, and cross-examination to face in the Court. There are certain SOPs (Standard Operating Procedures) to be followed in such cases. It has to be proved that there was a threat to the life of the Policeman, that gunning down the criminal was the only way out to save his own life. A criminal cannot be fired at if he is running away, so as to kill him. It is better that he runs away and escape, rather than take his life. The maximum the Policeman can do is to fire him below his waist to make him immobile. It is only in self-defense that his opponent can be killed. Some of the points of the SOP are as follows :

1. The Policeman has to fire a warning shot in the air first to scare the opponent

2. When they fire at the opponent, they have to be fired below the waist first, to make him immobile

3. He cannot be fired at his back, as it shows that he was running away, rather than charging at the Policeman

4. The opponent should also be preferably armed, which will prove the threat to the Policeman’s life

5. The distance from where the Policeman fired on the gangster should not be more than approximately five meters, which proves that the Policeman did not have a chance to run away from imminent danger

6. Only in exceptional circumstances, these SOPs can be done away with, but then the Policeman will have to prove to the Court about the reasonableness of his actions

Of late, Encounter killings have acquired a bad name, as a lot of Encounter killings were carried out by the Police, acting as contract killers for gangsters in exchange for money. Then there are many such killings carried out by Policemen even though there was no threat to their lives. These Policemen firmly believe that these criminals will escape from the law once captured and brought before the Court, as they engage eminent lawyers to fight their case who saves them, and hence these Policemen firmly believe that such killings are the only way out to mete out instant justice to the victims and to the society in general. It does not augur well for society when the Policemen become the investigator, judge, and executioner at the same time. But not all killings are fake Encounter Killings.

Pradeep Sharma, Daya Nayak, Sachin Vaze, Ravindra Angre, Pradeep Suryavanshi, are some of the most lionized Encounter Specialists. They were the toast of gangster movies as anti-mafia heroes. However, now they find themselves on the other side of the law for various reasons.