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Encounter killing

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An encounter killing, often simply called an encounter, is an extrajudicial killing by police or the armed forces in South Asia, supposedly in self-defence when they encounter suspected gangsters or terrorists. The officers typically described the incidents as a shootout situation, often allegedly starting when a criminal grabs for the gun of a police officer.[1] The term encounter came into widespread use for such incidents in the late 20th century.

Critics are sceptical of the police motivation behind many of these reported incidents,[2] and further complain that the wide acceptance of the practice has led to incidents of the police staging encounters to conceal the killing of suspects when they are either already in custody or are unarmed or have surrendered (or would have been willing to surrender if given the opportunity).[3] Such instances are called fake encounters.[4] In some cases, surrendered criminals are shot in the leg as an extrajudicial punishment; these are called half encounters.[5][6]

Sometimes police officers are also killed in such incidents, although relatively rarely. Over a two-year period in Uttar Pradesh, for example, encounters reportedly resulted in the death of 103 alleged criminals and 5 police officers.[7][8] Several individual police officers have reportedly been involved in more than 100 killings in encounters, and Pradeep Sharma was reportedly involved in more than 300.[9]

In the 1990s and the mid-2000s, the Mumbai Police used encounter killings to attack the city's underworld, and the practice spread to other large cities. In Pakistan, the Sindh Police are notorious for extrajudicial killings through fake encounters, especially in Karachi.[10]

In the six years between 2016/2017 and 2021/2022, a case of encounter killing has been registered once every three days in India, with 813 such cases of encounter killings, according to National Human Rights Commission of India data. There were no convictions of any officials involved in these killings during that period.[11]

In India

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Encounter killings by state and union territory of India.[11]
States. 2016–2022.
Data for above map.[11]
Andhra Pradesh 11
Arunachal Pradesh 14
Assam 79
Bihar 25
Chhattisgarh 259
Goa 0
Gujarat 2
Haryana 16
Himachal Pradesh 1
Jharkhand 52
Karnataka 6
Kerala 9
Madhya Pradesh 8
Maharashtra 33
Manipur 12
Meghalaya 18
Mizoram 0
Nagaland 1
Odisha 40
Punjab 8
Rajasthan 12
Sikkim 1
Tamil Nadu 11
Telangana 8
Tripura 3
Uttar Pradesh 110
Uttaranchal 1
West Bengal 21
Union territories. 2016–2022.
Data for above map.[11]
Andaman and Nicobar 1
Chandigarh 0
Dadra and Nagar Haveli 0
Daman and Diu 0
Delhi 9
Jammu and Kashmir 45
Ladakh 0
Lakshadweep 0
Puducherry 0

The term encounter killing came into popular use in India since the late 20th century following a very high frequency of such killings by police in cities including Mumbai, Chennai, Kolkata and Ghaziabad. Some of the killings have been controversial, and critics have alleged that the police created 'fake encounters' as opportunities to kill suspects.[3][12][13]

According to the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) of India, there were many cases of alleged fake encounters:

2002–2008

440 cases. States with high number of cases were: Uttar Pradesh (231), Rajasthan (33), Maharashtra (31), Delhi (26), Andhra Pradesh (22) and Uttarakhand (19).[3]

October 2009 – February 2013

555 cases. States with high number of cases were: Uttar Pradesh (138), Manipur (62), Assam (52), West Bengal (35) and Jharkhand (30).[14]

Andhra Pradesh

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The first recorded encounter killing was Alluri Sitarama Raju, who was a local hero in the Rampa Rebellion of 1922.[15] The police of Nizam of Hyderabad passed on some traditions of police execution to the state of Andhra Pradesh at Independence in 1947.[16] During the Telangana movement the State government used encounter killing as the explanation for killing more than 3000 people.[16][15] From the 1960s, the culture of using encounter killings has developed into a tolerated practice.[16]

Maharashtra

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Main article: Mumbai Encounter Squad

On 11 January 1982, the gangster Manya Surve was shot dead by police officers Raja Tambat and Isaque Bagwan at the Wadala area. This is often referred to as the city's first recognised encounter killing.[17] From that period until early 2003, the police killed 1,200 alleged criminals.[18]

Members of the Mumbai Police involved in these killings became widely known as 'encounter specialists', and several became well known to the public in India, including:

Name Designation Encounter killings Source Note
Pradeep Sharma Inspector 312 [19] He once remarked "Criminals are filth and I'm the cleaner".[18][20] He was accused of having staged the encounter of Ram Narayan Gupta and suspended in 2009–10; however, he was acquitted by the court in 2013.[21]
Daya Nayak Inspector 83 [2]
Praful Bhosale Inspector 77 [22]
Ravindranath Angre Inspector 54 [23]
Sachin Waze Assistant Inspector 63 [24][25] Resigned from service, later joined Shivsena[26]
Vijay Salaskar Inspector 61 [27] Killed in the November 2008 Mumbai attacks

Punjab

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The term 'police encounter' was used often during the Punjab insurgency between 1984 and 1995. During this time, Punjab police officials reported 'encounters' to local newspapers and to the family members of those killed. The victim was typically a person whom the police believed to be a militant or involved in the militant separatist movement; proof of alleged militant involvement was rarely given. Ultimately, the practice became so common that 'encounter' became synonymous with extrajudicial execution.[28][29]

It is alleged that police typically take a suspected militant into custody without filing an arrest report. If the suspect dies during interrogation, security forces would deny ever taking the person into custody and instead claim that he was killed during an armed encounter, placing weapons on or near the body to suggest the police acted in self-defence.[30][31][32][33]

Sukhwinder Singh Bhatti, a criminal defence attorney in Punjab who defended such suspects, disappeared in May 1994 and is alleged to have been killed by the police.[34]

Rajasthan

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On 20 July 2020, a special Central Bureau of Investigation court in Mathura convicted 11 policemen, including former deputy Superintendent of Police Kan Singh Bhati in former MLA Raja Man Singh's murder case.[35] Raja Man Singh was killed along with his two supporters in a fake police encounter in February 1985.[36]

Gujarat

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Between 2002 and 2006, 22 police encounter killings were reported in Gujarat.[37] According to the NHRC figures, during 2002–2007, there were four alleged fake encounters in Gujarat (out of 440 fake encounters in all of India).[3] These cases gained national media attention:

Uttar Pradesh

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Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath was quoted saying that, "Criminals will be jailed or killed in encounters." Reacting to the statements, the National Human Rights Commission of India issued a notice to the state government over its reported endorsing of killings in encounters by police for improving law and order.[41][42]

Other notable cases

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Veerappan, the notorious forest brigand, was reportedly killed by the Special Task Force (STF) Headed by K Vijay Kumar in an encounter on 18 October 2004. Some human rights organisations claimed that the circumstantial evidence indicated that he was killed in a fake encounter after being tortured by the police.[43]

On 19 September 2008, Delhi-police Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma, a decorated officer, and two suspects were killed in the Batla House encounter case in New Delhi. The encounter led to the arrest of two suspected Indian Mujahideen (IM) terrorists, while a third managed to escape. The Shahi Imam of the Jama Masjid termed the encounter as 'totally fake"' and accused the government of harassing Muslims.[44] Several political parties and activists demanded a probe into the allegations that the encounter was fake.[45][46][47] After an investigation, the National Human Rights Commission cleared the Delhi Police personnel of any violations of human rights.[48] While sections of the media still oppose the ruling and believe the police to be culprits, a video clip that surfaced in 2016 featured a confession from the terrorist who had escaped the encounter, about how he managed to do so and later join the ISIS, further confirming the credibility of the encounter.[citation needed]

An alleged 'encounter' in 1991, led to the 2016 sentencing of 47 policemen to life imprisonment for the slaying of 11 Sikh pilgrims in the Pilibhit district of Uttar Pradesh.[49]

In 2019, all four men accused in the 2019 Hyderabad gang rape were killed in a police encounter on 6 December 2019. Police alleged that one of four had gestured to the other three to flee after attacking the cops, that the four tried to run towards a deserted pathway, and that the cops opened fire in self-defense.[50][51][52]

In Pakistan

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2015

Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported that in 2015, 2,108 men, seven women, and six minors were killed in Pakistan in alleged police encounters, including 696 people in the city of Karachi alone. Of these, 1191 men and three women were killed in the province of Punjab, 829 men and one woman were killed in Sindh, 64 men and one woman were killed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 22 men and two women were killed in Balochistan, and two men were killed in Gilgit-Baltistan.[53] According to HRW, many of the encounters were "faked and did not occur in situations in which lives were at risk." HRW added: "In the vast majority of these cases, no police officer was injured or killed, raising questions as to whether there was in fact an armed exchange in which there was an imminent threat to the lives of police or others."[54][55]

January 2014 – May 2018

A total of 3,345 people, including 23 women and 12 minors, were killed in 2,117 alleged police encounters in Pakistan from 1 January 2014, to 11 May 2018, according to the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP).[56] 55 police officials and 10 passersby were also killed in the encounters. Most of the alleged police encounter cases occurred in the Punjab province (1,036 cases) followed by the Sindh province (944 cases), whereas most of the killings in the alleged police encounters occurred in Sindh (1,592 killings) followed by Punjab (1,556 killings). The encounter cases and killings were reported to be much lower in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (71 killings in 54 cases) and Balochistan (57 killings in 34 cases) during the period.[56]

Since the data collected by HRCP was based on monitoring of media reports, the total number of cases and killings may be higher than the estimate.[57]

Balochistan

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Further information: Killing of Hayat Baloch

Sindh

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Further information: 2011 Pakistan Rangers shooting incident and Killing of Naqeebullah Mehsud

On 13 January 2018, Naqeebullah Mehsud was killed in a fake encounter staged by the senior superintendent of police (SSP) Rao Anwar in Karachi, sparking countrywide protests against extrajudicial killings.

Punjab

[edit]
Further information: Sahiwal killings and Killing of Usama Nadeem Satti

A Lahore-based family had been travelling to a family member's wedding in a car driven by their neighbour on 19 January 2019. They were shot down near Sahiwal toll plaza.[58]

Other notable cases

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On 16 January 2018, when the inquiry against Rao Anwar was about to start following the extrajudicial killing of Naqeebullah Mehsud, Rao Anwar claimed that he came under attack in Karachi's Malir Cantonment while he was heading towards his house. He alleged that a suicide attacker detonated explosives near him and his squad but they remained unhurt, and that two accomplices of the attacker then opened fire on the police, both of whom were shot dead in the exchange of fire. He also alleged that a few militants escaped the site under the cover of fire while the police and Pakistan Rangers were conducting search operation.[59][60] However, the Counter-Terrorism Department (CTD) probing the case doubted if a suicide attack had even taken place at the site.[61] The investigators found out that contrary to Rao Anwar's claim, no exchange of fire had taken place. They termed the incident a fake encounter. According to the investigators, the alleged suicide attacker Gul Saeed was first riddled by the police with bullets, then a suicide vest was wrapped around his body, and then the vest was set on fire which burned his body.[62][63]

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Police encounters have been featured in several fiction and non-fiction arts.

Film

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Books

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  • Sacred Games (2007), a novel by Vikram Chandra, is based on the police force in Mumbai. It includes dramatic depictions of police encounters.
  • The Third Squad (2017), a novel by V. Sanjay Kumar, revolves around a Mumbai encounter policeman with Asperger's Syndrome. It includes multiple depictions of police encounters.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ Bhushan, Akshat (30 July 2020). "Extrajudicial Killings in India: Rule of Law v. Police Impunity". Jurist. The common excuse given by the police for carrying out such killings is that the accused had snatched the pistol of one of the policemen and opened fire.
  2. ^ a b "Bombay's crack 'encounter' police". BBC News. 9 June 2004.
  3. ^ a b c d S Gurumurthy (11 August 2011). "Sohrabuddin: Interrogating the media". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 8 November 2013. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
  4. ^ "17 UP cops get life term for killing man in fake encounter". Hindustan Times. 30 March 2012.
  5. ^ "Delhi: In 'half-encounters', criminals shot in legs | Delhi News". The Times of India. 19 October 2019.
  6. ^ "UP police change approach to encounters, opt to fire at legs". 20 January 2019.
  7. ^ "In India, 479 cops died in line of duty in a year, 116 in UP". The Times of India. 21 October 2016.
  8. ^ "'5,178 encounters since 2017': UP Police boasts of killing 103, injuring 1,859". The Week. 6 December 2019.
  9. ^ Karnad, Raghu; Jajo, Grace (21 July 2016). "Confessions of a killer policeman". The Guardian.
  10. ^ "Rao Anwar and the killing fields of Karachi". Dawn. 16 February 2018. Archived from the original on 6 April 2020. Retrieved 26 December 2018.
  11. ^ a b c d Jacob, Nidhi (25 July 2022). "Encounter Killings: Fivefold Rise in Pending Cases, No Convictions in 6 Years". FactChecker.in. Retrieved 4 September 2022. Article is also here at Scroll.in. Scroll over map at FactChecker.in source for numbers. There is also a data download link below the source map.
  12. ^ "Explained: What NHRC, SC have said on encounter killings". The Indian Express. 7 December 2019. Archived from the original on 9 February 2021. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
  13. ^ Anandan, Arabhi (7 December 2019). "Fake Encounter Killings : An Anathema To Rule Of Law". livelaw.in. Archived from the original on 9 February 2021. Retrieved 7 December 2019.
  14. ^ "NHRC stats show there were more fake encounters in Congress-ruled states than in Narendra Modi's Gujarat". India Today. 4 July 2013. Archived from the original on 25 February 2017. Retrieved 2 September 2013.
  15. ^ a b MK, Mithun (9 December 2019). "From 1924, a look at the history of encounter killings in the two Telugu states". The News Minute. Archived from the original on 9 February 2021. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  16. ^ a b c Venugopal, N. (2007). "Fake Encounters: Story from Andhra Pradesh". Economic and Political Weekly. 42 (41): 4106–4111. ISSN 0012-9976. JSTOR 40276541. Archived from the original on 9 February 2021. Retrieved 26 December 2020.
  17. ^ "City’s first encounter ended two years of urban dacoity", 22 June 2002, Express India. [dead link‍]
  18. ^ a b Perry, Alex (6 January 2003). "Urban Cowboys". Time.
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  22. ^ "Encounter man Pradip Sharma completes 'century'" Archived 14 November 2017 at the Wayback Machine, Rediff, 3 June 2004
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  24. ^ Fallen Heroes. India Today. Archived 27 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  25. ^ Mumbai's encounter specialists out of favour, IBNLive, 26 March 2008.
  26. ^ "Ex-encounter cop Vaze set to join Sena". The Times of India. 5 October 2008. Archived from the original on 17 August 2018. Retrieved 15 April 2018.
  27. ^ "The People's Paper". Tehelka. Archived from the original on 12 September 2012. Retrieved 19 October 2013.
  28. ^ Dead Silence: The Legacy of Abuses in Punjab. Human Rights Watch/Asia and Physicians for Human Rights. 1994. ISBN 9781564321305.
  29. ^ Campbell, Bruce B.; Brenner, Arthur David (1 October 2002). Death Squads in Global Perspective: Murder with Deniability. Palgrave Macmillan. pp. 265–. ISBN 978-1-4039-6094-8. Archived from the original on 25 February 2017. Retrieved 19 June 2010.
  30. ^ Country Reports on Human Rights Practices (India). U.S. State Department. 1993.
  31. ^ Pepper, Daniel (28 February 2009). "India Makes a Place for Dirty Harry". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 7 January 2018. Retrieved 8 May 2009.
  32. ^ "India-Who Killed the Sikhs". Dateline. 4 March 2002. Archived from the original on 12 September 2007. Retrieved 8 May 2009.
  33. ^ "Communication to Special Representative on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders" (PDF). Ensaaf. 12 May 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 September 2008. Retrieved 8 May 2009.
  34. ^ "The Twelve Year Cover-Up: Disappearance of Human Rights Attorney Sukhwinder Singh Bhatti". ensaaf.org. Archived from the original on 26 February 2017. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
  35. ^ Mehta, Kriti (21 July 2020). "Mathura court convicts 11 cops in 1985 death case of Raja Man Singh who rammed his jeep into CM's helicopter". Times Now. Archived from the original on 9 February 2021. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  36. ^ Foujdar, Suresh; Chaturvedi, Amit (21 July 2020). "11 cops convicted for killing Rajasthan ex-royal in fake encounter 35 yrs ago". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 9 February 2021. Retrieved 22 July 2020.
  37. ^ Krishnadas Rajagopal (26 January 2012). "Probe all 22 fake encounters between 2002 and 2006, SC tells Gujarat panel". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 14 February 2016. Retrieved 26 June 2014.
  38. ^ Rana Ayyub (3 December 2011). "Dead Man Talking". Tehelka. 8 (48). Archived from the original on 21 February 2014. Retrieved 6 February 2014.
  39. ^ "Third victory for us, says Ishrat's family". The Hindu. 22 November 2011. Archived from the original on 22 November 2011. Retrieved 22 November 2011.
  40. ^ "The journalist who cracked Gujarat fake encounter case". rediff.com. 25 April 2007. Archived from the original on 10 January 2012. Retrieved 22 November 2011.
  41. ^ "Supreme Court to Uttar Pradesh over fake encounters". The Times of India. 2 July 2018. Archived from the original on 9 February 2021. Retrieved 3 July 2019.
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  43. ^ "Veerappan killed in fake encounter: activists". The Hindu. 19 January 2005. Archived from the original on 15 March 2005. Retrieved 22 November 2011.
  44. ^ "Batla House encounter fake: Shahi Imam". rediff.com. 9 February 2010. Archived from the original on 30 April 2012. Retrieved 22 November 2011.
  45. ^ "Batla House Encounter: Unanswered Questions". Outlook. 23 July 2009. Archived from the original on 31 January 2014. Retrieved 22 November 2011.
  46. ^ "SP for judicial inquiry into Jamia encounter". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 8 October 2008. Archived from the original on 8 November 2012. Retrieved 22 November 2011.
  47. ^ "Attack on north Indians, Jamia encounter rocks LS". The Indian Express. 20 October 2008.
  48. ^ "Batla House encounter: NHRC gives clean chit to cops". CNN-IBN. 22 July 2009. Archived from the original on 10 July 2013. Retrieved 22 November 2011.
  49. ^ Sally, Vishal (6 April 2016). "Pilibhit verdict: For Gurdaspur families, justice delayed, not denied". Hindustan Times. Archived from the original on 25 February 2017. Retrieved 25 February 2017.
  50. ^ News Service, Express (6 December 2019). "In sudden turn of events, all four accused in Hyderabad vet rape-murder case killed in police encounter". The Indian Express. Archived from the original on 9 February 2021. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  51. ^ News Service, Express (6 December 2019). "Hyderabad rape-murder accused shot dead: How the 'encounter' with Telangana Police unfolded". The Indian Express. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  52. ^ "Police shoot dead four suspects in gang-rape and murder". CNN. 6 December 2019. Archived from the original on 9 February 2021. Retrieved 6 December 2019.
  53. ^ "State of Human Rights in Pakistan 2015" (PDF). Human Rights Commission of Pakistan. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 February 2021. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  54. ^ "Pakistan: Police accused of killing more than 2000 persons in encounters during the year 2015". Asian Human Rights Commission. 27 September 2016. Archived from the original on 9 February 2021. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  55. ^ "Pakistan police accused of illegally killing hundreds of suspects a year". The Guardian. 26 September 2016. Archived from the original on 9 February 2021. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  56. ^ a b "3,345 killed in police encounters from Jan 2014 to May 2018". The News International. 20 January 2019. Archived from the original on 9 February 2021. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  57. ^ "Shady encounters that caused national outcry". Pakistan Today. 20 January 2019. Archived from the original on 9 February 2021. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  58. ^ Zafar, Imad (21 January 2019). "Society must refuse to tolerate fake 'encounters'". Asia Times. Retrieved 23 January 2019.
  59. ^ "Never seen a case where suicide bomber's body is in one piece: CTD official on Rao Anwar attack". The Express Tribune. 15 February 2018. Archived from the original on 9 February 2021. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
  60. ^ "Suspect killed in Rao Anwar suicide attack case was innocent, claims family". Geo News. 27 January 2018. Archived from the original on 9 February 2021. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
  61. ^ "CTD official doubts veracity of suicide attack on Rao Anwar". Pakistan Today. 15 February 2018. Archived from the original on 9 February 2021. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
  62. ^ "Investigators expose alleged suicide attack on SSP Rao Anwar". SAMAA TV. 22 January 2018. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
  63. ^ "Heirs of another victim of fake encounter to file case against Rao Anwar". Dunya News. 27 January 2018. Retrieved 1 January 2019.
  64. ^ "'Ab Tak Chhappan' actor Nana Patekar backs Hyderabad police encounter | Lucknow News - Times of India". The Times of India.

Further reading

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