Killing Muslims was fair game in Gujarat, says ex-cop

By Liz Mathew

IANS


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New Delhi : A former Gujarat Police officer says the Narendra Modi government had virtually institutionalized the killings of Muslims in staged shootouts and that he too was asked to kill some but he refused to.

According to R.B. Sreekumar, a former additional director general in charge of the intelligence wing in Gujarat Police, the cold-blooded murders were "an attempt to create a sympathy wave in favour of the chief minister whenever his leadership was questioned".

Sreekumar, who earned Modi's wrath for his statements against him during the trial of the accused in the 2002 communal violence, told IANS over telephone from Ahmedabad where he still lives that the state police was under pressure "politically" to conduct engineered shootouts.

Sreekumar's comments came in the wake of the arrests of two senior Gujarat Police officers and one from Rajasthan following the killing of a Muslim man, Sohrabuddin Sheikh, in November 2005 after branding him a terrorist out to assassinate Modi. His wife too was summarily killed and her body burnt.

The dead man's brother waged a spirited judicial battle for truth, leading the Supreme Court to order an inquiry that uncovered the grim truth.

Sreekumar said he had received "clear instructions" while in service to target the Muslim community in staged shootouts. He said he put his foot down.

"I have been also asked to conduct fake encounters, which I opposed," he said. He added that former Punjab police chief K.P.S. Gill, who was then security advisor to the Gujarat chief minister, agreed with him and opposed any illegal killings.

According to Sreekumar, who retired in February this year, the Gujarat government's admission before the apex court over the killings attributed to the arrested officer was only a "damage control" exercise.

"They have put the entire blame on the police officers who simply acted at the political leadership's behest. The leadership is trying to wash its hands off," he said.

Sreekumar pointed out that Sheikh's murder took place ahead of the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) national executive in Mumbai in December 2005.

There had been speculation then that the BJP would consider a leadership change in Gujarat in the wake of mounting dissidence in the party unit against Modi.

Once it was made out in the media that terrorists were after Modi, the latter gained fresh stature.

Pointing out that people in Gujarat were deeply divided on religions lines, Sreekumar said: "The fake encounters have earned 'a respectable status' as a device to prevent crime in the state. People have started accepting the staged killings as a necessity against crime."

The retired officer also said while he was in service, he had many times received instructions to frame senior Muslim officials in government service.

Sreekumar alleged that he was once asked to prepare a report against an Indian Army officer related to a Bollywood actor.

Again, he refused saying the state police did not have anything to do with the military.

Sreekumar, who filed four affidavits against the Modi government before the Nanavati Commission that probed into the 2002 Gujarat riots, is now busy writing about his experiences in the state.

"In Gujarat you will be given all kinds of rewards if you do what the administration asks," he said. "If you do not fall in line for them, you will be harassed."

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