CHENNAI: The ‘encounter’ killing of five youth, suspected to be involved in two recent bank heists in the city, has drawn severe flak from human rights groups, who demanded that the State Human Rights Commission take suo motu notice of the incident and police personnel involved in the incident be booked for murder and placed under immediate suspension.“Commissioner of Police J K Tripathy has not been able to defend himself even after the press meet held about 11 hours after the killings,” Henri Tiphagne of Madurai-based People’s Watch told Express.Media Kept AwayQuestioning the “secrecy surrounding the encounter”, the rights activist wanted to know why journalists were kept away from the scene between 2 am and 5.45 am and residents of the area told to switch off the lights.Poking holes in the CoP’s claim that the police personnel opened fire in the interest of “self-defence and public safety”, Tiphagne said: “You go to apprehend five persons whom you know are armed. Then why go with 14 police personnel… Why didn’t you ask for more forces? That is because you are not interested in arresting them, only killing them...” The activist pointed out that the CCTV footage released by the police showed only one of the victims, who was identified by the bank staff. “But what about the other four?” he asked.‘Book Them for Murder’Echoing him, Prof A Marx of People’s Union for Human Rights told Express that the encounter should have been avoided because had the youth been arrested, additional details would have come to light. A case under Section 302 (murder) should be registered against them. “They should prove before law that they killed because they had no other recourse,” he said. Quoting Section 46 of IPC, he said police could use violence against a person, to the extent of killing him, under the provision only if the accused had committed an offence that would draw the death sentence or life term. He pointed to media reports saying the bank robbers had reportedly used the ‘toy gun modus operandi’ and, hence, had not physically harmed anybody. “Police should have extended their siege and arrested them,” he said. Describing the incident as a “fake encounter”, Madras High Court advocate and civil rights activist Sudha Ramalingam said, “Police officers should have worn bullet-proof attire to ensure minimum damage to themselves. Only courts have the right to pron ounce guilt, not the police,” she added.
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