Taking a tough stand on encounter killings Monday, 12 December 2016 | Joginder Singh

The Modi Government must deal with criminals with an iron hand. It must not get bogged down by the Opposition crying hoarse, alleging conspiracy theories behind the killing of SIMI activists On Sunday, November 27, while most of us woke up, looking forward to a day of rest and relaxation, around 12 to 14 armed men, barged into the maximum security prison at Nabha Central jail in Punjab’s Patiala district, attacked the guards and escaped with Khalistan Liberation Force chief Harminder Mintoo, along with five other terrorists. Other fugitives include, gangsters Kulpreet Singh alias Neeta Deol, Vicky Gonder, Amandeep Doda, and another terrorist, Kashmir Galwaddi. Vicky Gonder, and his 15-member gang were jailed after they shot dead another gangster Sukha Kahlon, in Phagwara in full public view in January 2015. Kahlon was on his way to a local court when he was shot dead. Here is a detailed view of how it happened: The men came in four cars, kept three cars parked outside and used an SUV to reach one of the jail gates. While some of them wore turbans and had beard, the rest were clean shaven. Officials told the Times of India that four of them were in police uniform and pretended as if they were bringing a handcuffed criminal, who turned out to actually be their accomplice, to the jail. The assailants, who helped the prisoners escape, hid weapons in blankets and had extra police uniforms, witnesses said. Mintoo was subsequently arrested in Delhi on November 28, from New Delhi railway station in a joint operation orchestrated by the Punjab and Delhi police. Later in the evening, the Uttar Pradesh police arrested Parminder Singhalias Painda, who had played a key role in planning and executing the jailbreak, from Kairana in Shamli district. He was driving one of the SUVs used in the escape. The others are yet to be found. A reward of Rs25 lakh has been announced for anyone who provides information about them. The timing of the escape, just before the Punjab elections, has left many unanswered questions. Conspiracy theories abound about how they broke out of the jail in order to disrupt peace in Punjab where elections are just around the corner. The after math of this is that 11 State borders with Haryana, Rajasthan and Jammu & Kashmir have been sealed. The fugitives are suspected to have fled to Uttar Pradesh. In Bhopal, on October 31, eight terrorists of the banned Students Islamic Movement of India (SIMI) escaped from the high security Bhopal Central Jail after killing a security guard and scaling the prison walls, using bed sheets. This is not the first time when SIMI terrorists have escaped from jail in Madhya Pradesh. Among these eight terrorists, Jakir, Mehboob Shekh, Amjad had fled in 2013 as well. In 2013, seven terror suspects from SIMI cut the iron bars of a Khandwa jail’s bathroom window and escaped after stabbing two security guards. They also stole rifles and wireless sets. The central security agencies were anxious as four of the seven SIMI activities, who escaped from a jail in Khandwa in October 2013, were arrested only after three years and during the period of their hiding, the militants were involved in multiple incidents of terror and bank robbery. The seven SIMI men had made an audacious escape from the district jail in Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh after scaling a 14-foot wall. While one prisoner surrendered the next day the other was caught in December 2013 from Barwani in Madhya Pradesh. A third was killed in an encounter by the Telangana Police on April 5, 2015, but the fourth continued to evade police for three years till his arrest in February this year in Rourkela, Odisha. They were subsequently shot dead in an encounter in Eintkhedi village on the outskirts of Bhopal. On October 24, the Andhra Pradesh Government reported that it had killed 24 Maoists near Jantri in Malkangiri district of Odisha, a few kilometre away from the Andhra Pradesh border. The deceased included seven female and 17 male Naxalites. In his address to the UN on September 27, 2014, Prime Minister Narendra Modi talked about zero tolerance policy towards terrorism that his Government had adopted, which is seemingly getting translated in to action . Opposition parties are crying foul, with prominent Opposition leaders alleging conspiracy theories surrounding the jail break incident. Julio Ribeiro, in his interview on the encounter killings in Bhopal, talked about how there is a lot of public backing for the “extra judicial killings” by the police. The police become the investigator, prosecutor and the judge. The perspective to be gleaned is this: The police walk a very tight rope as they have to not only catch the criminals but in order for them to be convicted, they have to get hold of the evidence in a proper manner with a very limited manpower strength. Amnesty international, in its report dated May 14, 2014, said that in a global survey conducted by them of about 21,000 people in 21 countries, the acceptability of torture is the highest in India and China. About 74 per cent respondents in India feel that torture can sometimes be justifed to gain information that may protect the public.. We should send a strong signal and not deal with terrorists as if we are Mahatamas. Hard decisions need to be taken. Why should the criminals be given the right to rob the innocents, extinguish lives and brutalise children? They should be condemned so that those committing crime fear god. Developed countries have taken hard decisions. India should follow suit. I am sure, the Modi Government has that goal and vision in mind. Let the Opposition cry hoarse with allegations of consiracy theories. Different Governments since independence have ignored their most basic duty of all. The Government must ensure safety and secuty of its citizens at any cost.