Although the Chennai Police have given us the details of the events that led to the killing of five men suspected to be involved in two bank robberies in Chennai, many questions remain unanswered. The police team, which went to the site of the encounter only to verify the identity of the suspects, ended up firing in self-defence. Even if the suspects fired from the flat first, the police could have waited — away from the line of fire.
Not many people living in the area heard gunshots. Obviously, the suspects could not have fired many rounds. The house had only one exit and there was no escape route for the occupants. It is a fact that the police shot the men down without any solid proof of their involvement in the robberies.
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For an acclaimed force such as the Tamil Nadu Police, the five men holed up in a small apartment could not have been a match. They could have been taken alive with a planned strategy of wait and watch.
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Chennai
What are police personnel supposed to do when their security is threatened? With almost no clue in the first bank robbery case, and no CCTV footage or other credible leads in the second, the police tracked down the culprits which is praiseworthy.
Divya Balaji,
Virudhunagar
Why didn't the five men surrender when the police asked them to do so? Why did they open fire? Is this what law-abiding citizens do? Do citizens normally keep arms and huge wads of currency in their homes? Were not the police within the ambit of the law in returning fire when fired upon? It is time people who break the law realised that it comes with a price.
Deshabhimani Rao,
Bangalore
The principle “innocent until proven guilty” is perhaps the sole cause of law and order problems in the country. There is no fear of the law among people. Discipline is totally absent. It can be enforced only by those in authority. We cannot allow the legal system to be exploited and abused by underworld dons, and rowdies.
J.R.D. Rajakumar,
Chennai
No doubt, some policemen consider themselves above the law and must be punished. But if we are to get rid of the malaise of fake encounters, we must understand the basic issues.
Delayed justice, political pressure and the inability to keep the accused in jails have made our police a frustrated lot. If, after all the efforts they make, they see the criminals walk free, are they not bound to be demoralised?
Abhishek Yadav,
Gurgaon
Let us not forget that the security of policemen is also at stake in such encounters. This is not to say that police should be given discretionary powers to kill. Let us wait for the report of the judicial probe.
Palash Awasthi,
Lucknow