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Doubts over Pakistan militants foiled by India
Tuesday, 27 Jan, 2009 | 02:38 PM PST |
NEW DELHI: Indian media has raised doubts about police credibility over the killing of two Pakistani militants in New Delhi on Monday. As the police claim to have foiled an attack on Indias capital, newspapers wonder if the whole episode might have been staged.
The controversy is an unwelcome distraction from India's efforts to bring to book the Pakistanis it blames for November's attack on Mumbai.
Police on Sunday said they killed two militants after a car chase in Noida city on the outskirts of New Delhi on the eve of Republic Day. AK-47 rifles, grenades and a Pakistani passport were recovered, according to officials.
But the story sounded to some newspapers too good to be true. The militants not only conveniently carried Pakistani identification, they also asked for directions outside Delhi with an AK-47 poking out of a bag, and then confessed before dying.
The incident came amid heightened tension with Pakistan after the Mumbai attacks late last year. A brutal attack on the capital could have the potential to push the two nuclear-armed neighbours closer to the brink.
'(The doubts) hurt India's credibility more now than ever before, especially as India is now under international focus and trying to tell the world to act against terrorism after attacks on Mumbai,' retired Major-General Ashok Mehta told Reuters.
Indians even have a phrase for these kind of suspicions 'fake encounters' when police are accused of killing suspected criminals in cold blood and passing the incidents off as gunbattles to reap either fame or cash rewards.
'Doubts have always persisted about fake encounters and killings in India, but everything looks suspicious in this case,' Mehta, a security analyst, said.
Surprisingly, India's foreign ministry and home ministry have both been silent on the case.
One newspaper expressed doubts about the timing of Sunday's incident.
'We would have been a wee bit surprised had the police not produced some 'terrorists' slain or alive in the run-up to the Republic Day,' the Mail Today said.
'For the past many years encounters and arrests have been regular as the official ceremony on these occasions.'
The Times of India raised several suspicions, from conflicting police versions to the fact two previous encounters had taken place in the same isolated spot in less than 10 months.
The militants not only advertised their intentions with a gun-laden bag, they also asked for directions from a tea-seller who just happened to be a police informer, the paper said.
Uttar Pradesh police said they were still investigating.
'People are free to interpret and react to the situation in their own ways,' senior Uttar Pradesh police officer Rajiv Krishna said, when asked about reports of a fake encounter.
Indian security experts say there is no doubt that Indian police are dealing every week with militant cells.
The Indian government and many experts say there is ample evidence that Pakistan is communicating with many of these cells. Western allies such as the United States are convinced of the evidence that Pakistani militants were involved in Mumbai.
But while the threat is real, doubts about the police will not go away.
'The problem is credibility of the police and the fact that nobody believes the police these days,' Julio Ribeiro, former Mumbai police commissioner, told Reuters.
India's human rights commission is investigating a previous gunbattle in New Delhi last year against two suspected Islamist militants after media alleged it could have been faked.
In Sunday's incident, the police came from one of India's most lawless and corrupt states, Uttar Pradesh.
'These encounters are very murky,' said Ajai Sahni, executive director at the Institute for Conflict Management.
'The fact that it happened in UP raises more doubts, but that doesn't mean it was a fake encounter.'
DAWN.COM | World | Doubts over ?Pakistan militants? foiled by India
U seem to be equating ISI operatives and LET men... a fruedian slip?
i think geelani is going to get u fired
Yes i was biased because we didnt have any other reason to suspect the terrorists because of the past deeds in kashmir.. mumbai etc, and was talking purely based on the information given to us by our ATS. And there was no reason to think about the same as drama baazii.!!!! As india have always suspected of pakistani terrorsits(of which most became true) in terror strikes in india but never CREATED any DRAMA of killing its own people just to isolate pakistan..!!!! Well lets wait for the investigation to get over.. and shall continue this discussion then..!!!!