The midnight police encounter in which five men suspected of being involved in two bank robberies in Chennai were killed was shocking. When the police clearly outnumbered the robbers, what was the need to resort to the extreme move? Their failure to apprehend even one suspect alive gives cause for suspicion.
K.A. Solaman,
Alappuzha
The five men were suspected robbers, not convicted ones. Even terrorists are not gunned down in this manner. Is robbery punishable by death? Human rights bodies must take stern action.
K.S. Jeyakumar,
Tuticorin
Have we forgotten that everyone is bound by the rule of law? Are we not innocent until proven guilty? Thanks to the bulk of our trigger-happy media, many are convinced that the ‘guilty' were appropriately dealt with by the Chennai police. It may be useful to remind people of how other civilised countries handle such ‘encounters.'
As Wing Commander Harshavardhan has wondered (Letters, Feb. 24), were all options exhausted before gunning down the suspects? It is too early for us to hail the ‘heroes' and condemn the ‘criminals' in this case.
Arun Sadasivam,
Bridgend
How can suspects be killed by law-enforcement officers? They are innocent until proven guilty. The Chennai police either did not plan the arrest properly or the story of the encounter was made up.
Kingson A' Raj,
Addison
Police have only the power to arrest those suspected of committing a crime. It is for the courts to decide the quantum of punishment. Suspects cannot be gunned down like terrorists.
Manoj Kumar Sahoo,
Puducherry
One wonders whether it was necessary to gun down all the five suspects. Isn't our police force sufficiently trained to nab criminals without killing?
The suspected robbers could have been jobless youths driven by dire poverty. They could have certainly been given another chance.
N.E. Appasamy,
Gudimangalam
I was appalled on reading that all the suspects were killed, leaving us with no leads that could have emerged had they been caught alive. I fail to understand why the police did not use gas to smoke out the suspects. Even under the hardcore Saudi law, the hands of robbers are chopped off; they are not killed.
Sudharsan Rajagopalan,
Chennai
The news of the killing was shocking. But one cannot find fault with the police if their claim that they returned fire is true.
As a common man, I can only appeal to police officials to act in keeping with the demands of the situation. Only then will people continue to have faith in them.
C. Raju,
Madurai
It is unfair to blame police for gunning down the suspects. They cannot be expected to remain mute spectators when their personal security is jeopardised. The tendency to defend robbers and terrorists should be shunned if public order is to be maintained.
P.K. Varadarajan,
Chennai
