Even the dead jostles for space

In Delhi, where it’s tough to buy land to stay put for a lifetime, it will soon become harder to buy land for the afterlife. With manyfold increase in population in the Capital for the last two decades, space to bury the dead has been shrinking.

Rapid urbanisation, escalating land prices, burgeoning population and shrinking graveyards due to encroachment have virtually left no place to bury the dead. Delhi’s population has increased from four lakh in 1901 to around two crore in 2012.

According to the 2011 census, Delhi’s population was around 1.6 crore. The 2001 census put the Capital’s population at 1.37 crore, and in 2004 it was 1.52 crore. The Muslim population in Delhi is estimated to be around 40 lakh and Christians eight lakh.

Reasons behind space crunch

Migration from different states has been a major reason behind Delhi’s population growth. Estimated figures suggest that between two to three lakh migrants from other states settle down in Delhi permanently.

Even rural pockets in the Capital have almost urbanised with multi-storey buildings and offices everywhere. Agricultural land has almost turned into commercial and residential land, and several colonies have come up in the last decade, leaving no space for graveyards.

“The number of graveyards or cemeteries has not increased in proportion to the population for the last three decades. So there is a shortage of cemeteries for both communities,” says Delhi Wakf Board chairperson Chaudhary Mateen Ahmad.

Encroachments upon graveyards, construction of concrete tombs, non-allotment of land for new graveyards and a high demand for burial grounds attached to dargahs and mosques are the biggest problems. “Colonisers have also acquired land beside graveyards, leaving no space for expansion,” says Ahmad.

Number of cemeteries

There are some 100 cemeteries, including small and big ones, for the Muslim community in Delhi. “The government has provided land in two areas — Seelampur and Kondli — for graveyards a few years ago,” says Ahmad.

For the Christian community, there are 11 cemeteries across the Capital. They too got land in two places — Dwarka and Burari — a few years ago due to space crunch to bury the dead. “Seeing no space in many graveyards, we approached the government for land and it gave us two places,” says Father Rebello, chairperson of Delhi Cemetery Committee.

Both communities demanded more land for graveyards. But with rapid urbanisation and growth, the government is also helpless, says Ahmad.

Burial costs

Burial in any graveyard in Delhi won’t cost less than Rs 3,000. At graveyards attached to mosques, it costs between Rs 15,000 and Rs 50,000. At the historic Mehndiyan graveyard behind Lok Nayak Hospital, the cost of  burial starts from Rs 50,000 and goes up to a whopping Rs 1 lakh.

“The cost for burial at Delhi Gate graveyard starts from Rs 2,800. But in other graveyards in the city, mostly it starts from Rs 5,000. With people coming from other states and less burial space available, they get overcharged too,” says Mashkarr Rashid, a caretaker who has been looking after Delhi Gate graveyard for 35 years.

Similarly, the cost of a burial in the Christian community is around Rs 5,000. “The cost of burial ranges from Rs 3,000 to Rs 10,000. But in a few cemeteries the cost escalates, depending on the space people look for,” says Dominic Julius, associated with Delhi Cemetery Committee.

Graveyard caretakers earn incomes from other avenues as well. “There are shops attached with graveyards, from where people buy coffins and other items. The caretaker or the committee that handles the graveyards gets monthly rent from these shops.”

What caretakers do

Every cemetery for the Muslim community is managed by different committees comprising six to 12 members. “The committee has to be registered with the Delhi Wakf Board,” says Rashid.

For the Christian community, cemeteries are taken care of by two organisations — Delhi Cemetery Committee and the Indian Cemetery Committee. “The cemeteries are divided between both committees and they look after them,” says Dominic Julius, associated with Delhi Cemetery Committee.

Some problems

Around five cemeteries of the Christian community have displayed ‘no space available’ boards, while others are refusing to allow burial of  ‘outsiders or those residing in other localities’.

“We face lot of problems and most are due to space crunch. When there is no space, how are we going to accommodate the dead? Relatives of the dead also erect concrete structures over the burial site,” says Julius.

Similarly, several graveyards belonging to the Muslim community are full. Several committees display ‘no space’ boards due to concrete structures erected by people.

“When we ask them not to erect the structure, they start fighting with us,” says Rashid. The management committee has issued notice that when the grave turns old, one can fill the land with mud to bury another body. “But people don’t allow this and they build concrete structures on the graves,” adds Rashid.

He says family members cast away their loss on a portion of the earth, and they want to stay close to their forefathers and their generation. “But if they don’t allow us to use that space in the next few years, we have to hang a ‘no space’ board. We try to convince them that the space will be used for their generation if they allow filing it with mud, but they don’t understand it and erect concrete structures,” says Zafar Alam of Mayur Vihar graveyard.  

People of both communities build pakki, brick graves though they are asked to build kachhi, non-permanent ones.

Some solutions

The most common method being used by both communities is to reuse graves.

The Christian community has come up with the idea of cemeteries storing the ashes of a body in niches — small shelf-like vaults in cemetery walls — after opening up the grave. “This will give other people space to bury the dead,” says Father Rebello.

In the Muslim community, a notice has been issued for making only kachhi graves. This helps reuse the space. “We can refill the graveyard with three feet of mud and can reuse the space,” says Rashid.

But the permanent solution for both communities lies among the people. “They have to understand and cooperate with caretakers in reusing space, or else the problem will become alarming in a few years,” says Ahmad.

This story was written by me and published in Deccan Herald

Paid sex and the city

Flesh trade in Delhi is a thriving business, with organised rackets guarding their interests fiercely. 

It’s a profitable business that hums smoothly when nobody is noticing. Flesh trade in the capital has taken the form of organised crime with a pool of pimps and girls, some of them forced into the trade, running rackets using all imaginable means.

Two Uzbekistan sisters were recently found trapped in flesh trade for the past five months in the capital. This came to light when they had a fight with their pimp, a compatriot, and they approached police. 

The woman pimp was arrested and during interrogation, police found that she had been running a prostitution racket in Delhi for several years.

In the capital, flesh trade is no longer confined to GB Road — the city’s red light area. It has spread across every nook and corner with a number of escort and massage service outlets running prostitution rackets. Some of them even advertise and circulate phone numbers.

From five star hotels to farmhouses to bungalows, sex workers can be called there over the phone. The sordid business is often promoted on the internet, making it difficult to detect.

“Delhi has become a centre for commercial sexual exploitation. Gangs run flesh trade in a very organised and secretive manner. It is only when information reaches police that some victims are rescued,” says Rishi Kant, member of NGO Shakti Vahini.

Delhi is a destination as well as a transit point for victims brought from the north-east, Nepal, Bangladesh, Jharkhand, West Bengal, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Rajasthan. It is also a destination for cross-border trafficking rackets from Central Asian countries.

“The situation in Delhi has worsened as the human trafficking rackets have expanded their operations in the guise of beauty parlours, friendship clubs, spas, massage parlours and escort services,” says a report of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) released on July 4.

The traffickers have become organised, considering the fact that profits are very high. Despite the efforts of law enforcement agencies and other organisations, they have managed to expand the trade by moving the area of operation to satellite towns near Delhi.

Delhi’s GB Road has 92 brothels operating in old buildings, which house at least 4,000 women. There is large-scale trafficking of minor as well as adult women from Nepal and several Indian states.

The traffickers don’t just supply girls to GB Road, but also to the rackets that operate from residential colonies, says the UN report.

From the posh Lajpat Nagar and Saket to unauthorised colonies like Sangam Vihar and Seelampur, they run their business smartly and quietly.

‘Whatever you want’

A south Delhi-based pimp tells Deccan Herald over the phone that one can get a call girl from Rs 2,500 to Rs 10,000, depending on “colour and nationality”.

“Sir, whatever you want, you can come and check,” the pimp says.

The traffickers are so organised that they have divided the city according to their areas of operation so that there are no clashes between them.

Not just Indian women, foreigners are in the sordid business in large numbers.

Another pimp says on the phone that he exclusively provides call girls from Nepal, Ukraine, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Azerbaijan, Chechnya and Kyrgyzstan.

While most are organised rackets, some women operate on their own. They wait during evening and at night at roadsides, and outside malls and Metro stations, looking for customers. But they are not successful most of the time as police keep a vigil in these areas.

While girls from other countries come to the city, a lot of Indian girls are also sent abroad for flesh trade. There has been an upsurge in cases of recruitment agencies taking women workers to the Gulf as maids and then forcing them into prostitution.

Placement agents from Nepal have also been using the Delhi route to send Nepalese women abroad for ‘work’. Dance bar agents from the Gulf have allegedly formed a nexus with some airport officials, who clear visas without checking their authenticity.

“Approximately 10-12 women get authorisation every day. Mumbai is no longer a popular transit point for trafficking bar girls due to 'harassment' by immigration officials. It is easier to send them via Delhi, Chennai and Hyderabad,” says the UN study.

While there is increase in prostitution rackets in the city, Delhi Police too have intensified checking and have been catching traffickers. The city police have been collaborating with other states to pursue cases.

Police action

Many pimps have been arrested and call girls apprehended in police raids. “In 2012, some 118 girls were rescued from commercial sexual exploitation. Around 50 people were nabbed for running such rackets,” says special commissioner of police (law and order) Deepak Mishra. There are 12 anti-trafficking units in Delhi Police. They comprise trained officers working closely with NGOs and child welfare committees.

“In Delhi, the units conduct rescue operations with the assistance of NGOs whenever there is any information about human trafficking cases. The rescue and post-rescue operations are done in a victim-centric approach. Effective patrolling and vigil at locations prone to trafficking are being undertaken by the units,” says Mishra.

“A total of 271 rescue operations were conducted in Delhi in a year in coordination with NGOs. Numerous criminal gangs indulging in prostitution have been busted,” says a senior police officer.

Regular training sessions on anti-human trafficking laws are being organised for officers, with nine rounds of training conducted so far. A total of 500 police officers have been trained. Eighteen officers have been enrolled in IGNOU’s anti-trafficking course.

But prostitution is essentially an activity confined within four walls – and police say this poses the biggest challenge for them.

This story was written by me and published in Deccan Herald

Peek into Special Cell

Unseen to the public, the Delhi Police Special Cell works round-the-clock to prevent terrorists striking in the capital. But the 700-personnel unit also faces controversy over the way it functions with human rights activists accusing it of often crossing the line.

The arrest of 71-year-old Abdul Karim Tunda, one of India’s most wanted terrorists, has brought the spotlight back on the Delhi Police's Special Cell, an elite counterterrorism agency.

Police sources admit that Tunda was actually captured by the Research and Analysis Wing and the Intelligence Bureau near the India-Nepal border. And then handed over to the Special Cell for interrogation into his alleged links with the likes of the mafia don Dawood Ibrahim and the 26/11 masterminds – Lashkar-e-Toiba's Hafiz Saeed and Zakiur Rahman Lakhvi.

The arrest has raised questions about the role of the Special Cell.

This is not the first time, the intelligence agencies have tracked down terrorists based abroad, and then let the Special Cell take over from there. In June last year, Zabiuddin Sayed Zakiuddin Ansari alias Abu Jundal, who coordinated the 26/11 Mumbai attack  from a Karachi control room, was brought to Indira Gandhi International airport from Saudi Arabia by intelligence agencies, and then handed over to the cell.

Is it mere coincidence or a part of a well-thought-out plan? Or is the Special Cell virtually an operations unit of country's  intelligence agencies? It obviously helps that Delhi Police reports to the Centre, just as the agencies do, and not to the state government.

The origins of the Special Cell go back to the 1980s when militancy raged in Punjab. As the Sikh ultras made their presence felt in the Capital as well, there arose a need to have special anti-terror unit of Delhi Police.

In 1985, the then Delhi Police Commissioner Ved Marwah constituted the Operation Cell, now known as the Special Cell. Around 15 inspectors and 15 sub-inspectors, among the best in the force, were picked to form it. The unit started operating from Lodhi Colony.

The Operation Cell's job was to coordinate with all intelligence agencies and police forces of other states, and gather information about terrorist activities. And its second main function was to conduct operations to arrest terrorists.

Its first major success was in 1985 itself in bringing to book the perpetrators of post-Independence India's first bomb blast case in Delhi. Sikh militants had carried out several transistor bomb blasts, leaving 69 people dead and 127 injured across the city in span of three days to avenge the anti-Sikh riots, which followed Indira Gandhi's assassination.

While the first breakthrough was made by the local police, the case was then handed over to a joint team of Operation Cell and Crime Branch of Delhi Police.

More terror strikes were to follow. In 1986, Surjit Singh Penta of the Bhindranwala Tigers Force of Khalistan was involved in strikes at Chittaranjan Park and Greater Kailash that left around 30 dead. The Operation Cell took up the investigation.

In 1987, the cell notched its second big success, taking on Khalistan Commando Force terrorists Harjinder Singh 'Jinda' and Satnam Singh Bawa in an encounter near Mall Road in north Delhi. Satnam was shot dead.  Wounded Jinda died later.

Also in 1987, there was an explosion in the underground Palika Bazar at Connaught Place. In 1988, there were three blasts, in 1989 four explosions.

The spillover of militancy in Punjab kept the Special Cell busy in the next few years.

By 1991, not only Punjab militants but Pakistan and Jammu and Kashmir based groups had started carrying out terror attacks in the national capital. That year, there were around 12 explosions in the capital in the first six months. At least four people were killed and 40 injured when a bomb exploded in the market behind Red fort. A bomb also exploded at Indira Gandhi International Airport on June 24. There were 17 blasts in the capital in span of 14 months leading to 40 arrests in from the city.

Delhi Police decided to expand the Operation Cell.

The cell was split into two police ranges. With around 300 police personnel, Operation Cell worked under Asssitant Commissioner of Police Sukhdev Singh and later under Deputy Commissioner of Police B S Bhola. Both of them have now retired.

Lashkar-e-Toiba, Jammu Kashmir Liberation Front, Harkat ul-Mujahideen and Jaish-e-Mohammed had now started targeting  Delhi. In 1996, blasts took place in Lajpat Nagar Central Market, killing 13 people and injuring 39 others. The cell arrested six people.

In 1994, the cell was expanded to 500 personnel, divided now into three police ranges.

Between, 1994 to 1997, around 24 blasts took place in the national capital, carried out by Lashkar-e-Toiba. The recently nabbed Abdul Karim Tunda was allegedly involved in them. Other arrests in these cases have been made earlier.

In 2000,  Lashkar-e-Toiba carried out at attack at Red Fort, killing two soldiers and a civilian. The Operation Cell nabbed some of those involved.

The Operation Cell morphed into the Special Cell in 2001, headed by Deputy Commissioner of Police Ashok Chand. The year saw the Parliament attack, carried out by Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish-e-Mohammed. The strike led to an India-Pakistan military stand-off.

The Special Cell solved the case, arresting the recently hanged Afzal Guru and others. The Cell became more proactive after the  Parliament House attack: between 2001 and 2005 many encounters took place across the city.

From 2006 onwards, it also faced the challenge of dealing with Indian Mujahideen, which owed its origins to the Students’ Islamic Movement of India (SIMI).

On September 13, 2008, IM members  carried our serial blasts in Connaught Place, Karol Bagh’s Gaffar market and M-Block market in Greater Kailash-1. At least 25 people were killed and over 100 were injured. Since then, IM has carried out five more attacks in Delhi. The Special Cell have busted three IM terror modules so far, and some 30 terrorists have been arrested over four years.

The anti-terror wing faced criticism from various organisations after the Batla House encounter in Jamia Nagar on September 19, 2008. The Special Cell cops had launched an operation there against suspected IM members. Three persons, including a police officer, died.

After this operation the Special Cell was put on the backburner for almost two years. The Jamia Teachers’ Solidarity Association, which was formed after the Batla House encounter, recently released a report alleging that the cell had arrested 14 innocent people, who were later acquitted by court.

It was after B K Gupta took charge as Police Commissioner in November  2010, that the Special Cell got a new lease of life. It became even more active when Neeraj Kumar took charge as police chief on June 30, 2012.  During Kumar's term over 20 terrorists were nabbed.

A senior police officer, who was in the specialised unit for 20 years, says, “Earlier, the terrorist were not very hi-tech. But with new technology easily available, they have become more dreaded. Similarly, the Special Cell too has become a more specialised unit over the last three decades with new anti-terror equipment in hand.” He adds that the militants striking in Delhi are backed by Pakistan.

As the cat-and mouse game continues between terrorists and cops, the Special Cell, now a team of 700 police personnel, needs to constantly keep pace.

This story was written by me and published in Deccan Herald

Wannabe Godfathers of NCR

They are young, restless and brash. Gangsters in Delhi, restricted mostly to the city’s fringes in west and north districts, are like any other men from the rural belts, only that they live to kill.

Quite like the glamourised, stereotyped villains in Bollywood movies, the members of the gangs of Delhi get a kick from carrying imported pistols and automatic weapons — most of them illegal — and are chasing the dream of emulating local baddies who have made it big in the world of crime.

“They can kill a man for Rs 1 lakh,” says an officer of Delhi Police Crime Branch.

  

Easy money for them is a way of achieving a lifestyle that brings women, wine and five-star luxury. And for that they will do anything that needs a trigger pulled.

These gangsters are involved in a number of extortion cases, contract killings, abductions for ransom, attempts to murder and murders in Delhi and adjoining areas. When arrested they are remorseless, and act as if they have not done anything wrong.

“They feel that the crimes they have committed are their routine job like any other job,” says a senior police officer.

They start their career in crime when they are 18 or 19 years old. They begin with getting involved in local property disputes, and later go around with aides of dreaded gangsters of their areas.  

“Over a period of two-three years they become active members of gangs. They feel the adrenaline rush in firing a gun for the first time. And once they get guns in their hands, they start their criminal career,” says Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) Ravindra Yadav.

Most gang members in Delhi are under 30. The bigger names are said to be in awe of a “political master” based in Gurgaon, who helps them identify targets and assigns lucrative tasks. The master, when these gangsters face bad days, provides them hideouts, money and then the next target.

The gangsters too aspire to enter politics later in life or become the musclemen of some politicians.

A living example is criminal-turned-Municipal Corporation of Delhi councillor Kishan Pehlwan.

For over a decade, Pehlwan featured among the most wanted criminals of Delhi. He was considered as one of the most notorious gangsters in the capital in the past decade. At one point, Pehlwan, a former wrestler, faced several criminal cases, including murder charges, and carried a reward of Rs 1 lakh for anyone providing information leading to his arrest.

He started out with a tender mafia in the early 1990s, and entered the extortion business later. But he started maintaining a low profile after his men shot dead Anoop of Anoop-Balraj gang in 2004. At least 27 murder cases were registered against him.

Pehlwan was arrested in Bharatpur, Rajasthan. He later entered politics, and also ensured his younger brother, Bharat Singh, 35, became a Member of Legislative Assembly.

In 2012, Bharat Singh was shot at. After the attempt on his life, Delhi Police in a seeming bid to crack down on self-styled gang lords operating in the National Capital Region, drew a list of some of the most wanted men known to lead loosely-knit gangs that maraud and terrorise Delhi at will.

In the past one year, police have arrested some 40 people, including six wanted gangsters, from the city’s outer parts, particularly south-west and outer Delhi. After a year-long chase, police caught up with notorious gangster Neeraj Bawana, 21. Wanted in a number of extortion cases and carrying a reward of Rs 1 lakh, he was arrested in Rohini last year.

Neeraj became a ‘wanted man’ after he made an extortion call to MLA Jaswant Rana in May 2012. He demanded Rs 50 lakh from the MLA, police said. In all, he is wanted in 12 criminal cases — nine in Delhi and three in Haryana.

Among the top 10

Similarly, Manoj Morkheri, who is among the top 10 criminals in Delhi, was arrested after a shootout in March this year. He was allegedly involved in the killing of a Haryana police inspector.

Morkheri and two of his associates, Vivek and Praveen, were arrested while another person Rakesh, a former wrestler, died in the encounter that took place in Alipur in March, says Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime Branch) Ravindra Yadav.

During his school days, Rakesh was inclined towards wrestling and started practising in Chattarsal Stadium from January 2003. “In a very short span of time he became famous in wrestling. He won the bronze medal in Senior State Wrestling Championship held in Delhi in 2006. In 2007, he won gold medal in the same championship and became the state champion. In 2007, he also won bronze in Rajeev Gandhi Gold Cup,” says the officer, and adds that thereafter he took to crime.

The gangsters may be outlaws, but they too have certain set of “principles”. They do not indulge in “petty” crime such as snatchings or thefts as it is viewed as below their “dignity”.

“They desire to earn easy money and become famous, and not get involved in petty crime as it hampers their image,” says the officer.

Businessmen and builders have been victims of these gangsters.

Some gangsters lodged in Tihar Jail operate from the prison itself. “They manage to get mobile phones and other items like alcohol easily inside the jail premises. From there they keep their illegal activities running. They also entrap small-time criminals and undertrials and make them members of their gangs,” says a police officer, who does not want to be named.

Infighting among gangsters happens frequently over territorial dominance.

Vikas Lagarpuria from Lagarpur village, Vicky from Jharoda village and Sandeep Mental’s gangs from Baba Haridas Nagar and Naveen Bali gang, have long been trying to challenge the dominance of old gangs in their areas. This led to the arrests and killings of gang members.

Unlike Mumbai’s gangsters, the Delhi ones operate only in the National Capital Region, and they have their own geographical boundaries.

“They commit crime to live a lavish lifestyle, and spend money on call girls, expensive whisky and SUVs. After committing a crime, the usually do not indulge in another crime till they have money. They have hardly made any wealth, except for those who turn to a political career,” adds the officer.

The lifespan of such criminals is also short. When they reach 35, they stop indulging in criminal activities, get arrested or live in prisons.

They either get killed before they reach this age or try to look for some political affiliation.

This story was written by me and published in Deccan Herald

Why people protest at Jantar Mantar?

When King Jai Singh II of Jaipur built Jantar Mantar in 1724 as an astronomical observatory, he would never have imagined that the place will become more famous across the world for another reason – as an epicentre of protests and demonstrations.
   

From political parties to anti-corruption crusader Anna Hazare, those protesting against the government or just an individual, they all want to sit in at Jantar Mantar. 

Over the years, the landmark red structure located just off Connaught Place has been forgotten as a monument and is known more as a protest site. Originally built as a tool for calculations, Jantar Mantar is no more famous for as an astronomical observatory meant to graph the path of celestial bodies. Over the past two decades, it has become a place where people from across the country come to voice their concerns and demands.

And more recently, the monument in the Capital has become the hub of what can be called one of India’s biggest mass movements against corruption, led by Anna Hazare. To be precise, the venue of unending protests is not the monument itself, but the adjacent Jantar Mantar Road. “The place which is allotted to the protesters is just a half-kilometre stretch of Jantar Mantar road from Tolstoy Road till Ashoka Road circle, and particularly the 300-metre stretch behind YMCA international Guest House,” Anil Kumar, station house officer of Parliament Street police station, said.

Always a crowded place

This stretch is continuously flooded with people, all seated under pitched tents and peacefully protesting for varied causes. Holding placards, distributing pamphlets, shouting slogans and, at times, marching on Parliament Street, the demonstrators sit there from dawn to dusk. 

The place is also a hub of sorts for photojournalists.

The small eateries, kiosks, tea shops on this stretch have no dearth of customers round-the-year. Protesters have been been heading towards Jantar Mantar particularly from around 1989, after an intervention by the Supreme Court shut them off from Boat Club, a place nearer to Parliament House. Before Jantar Mantar, it was at Boat Club lawns – running along both sides of Rajpath – where political parties and others gathered to register their protest.

From Boat Club to Jantar Mantar

Things changed after October 1988. Mahendra Singh Tikait led thousands of farmers from Uttar Pradesh, along with their cattle, to the lawns of Boat Club. They took   over the place for about a week. Tikait supporters lit campfires on the lawns and  cooked their food there, Cattle dung piled up.  A public interest litigation (PIL) was then filed in the Supreme Court, asking that the government should find a new place for protests in the Capital.  “Thereafter, Jantar Mantar became a site for peaceful protests where crowds of up to 5000 were allowed. Similarly, Ramlila Ground became a place for peaceful rallies where  crowds up to 50,000 were allowed,” said Delhi Police spokesperson Rajan Bhagat.  

From January 2006 to 2010, about 15,000 dharnas and 7,000 demonstrations, rallies and processions, altogether involving some two lakh people, were held at Jantar Mantar, said Anil Kumar.

But the biggest crowds came later.

When Anna Hazare started an indefinite hunger strike in April 5, 2011 to exert pressure on the government to bring in a stringent anti-corruption law bill, Jantar Mantar Road became the centre of his movement. People came from across the nation to vent their anger.   The fast, which ended on April 9 — a day after the government accepted Hazare’s demands — witnessed a crowd of around 50,000 people.  Since then, police have come up with 21- point guidelines for the protesters to maintain law and order situation in the heart of the capital.

Police have made it mandatory for organisers of protests to take a no objection certificate from the land owning authority before holding a rally. The organisers have to make arrangements for drinking water and medical aid at the protest site and they must not let normal flow of traffic to be hampered. The guidelines also prohibit provocative speeches that may offend people from any group, religion or caste.

“It is only after protesters ensure in writing to abide by the apex court guidelines, that they are granted permission,” said Bhagat.

With four or five protests happening every day at Jantar Mantar Road, local residents have sought restrictions. They have lodged complaints with the Parliament Street and Connaught Place police stations, saying the agitations have made their lives miserable. They have also gone to court.

The High Court has asked the government to look for new protest sites, while ensuring that protesters are not denied the right to express their point of view. With the government now scouting for a new site, Jantar Mantar might perhaps return being known for what Jai Singh II had intended it to be – an astronomical observatory.

This was written by me and was published in Deccan Herald

Unseen enemies lurk at home

KILL ZONE: TERRORISTS TARGET COUNTRY’S CAPITAL TO GET MAXIMUM ATTENTION

By virtue of being the capital of the world’s largest democracy, Delhi is a prime target of terrorist groups, and countering them has become a major challenge for security agencies. With the arrest of five Indian Mujahideen members this month and deportation of another, security agencies have managed to foil a major attack in the city.

But the presence of sleeper cells of terror operatives in Delhi has become a major concern as there are fresh threats of terror strikes in the upcoming festival season.

From the 2001 Parliament attack case to the bomb attack on an Israeli diplomat on February 13 this year, Delhi has seen over a dozen terror attacks with hundreds of people killed and thousands injured.

Why Delhi

There is a perpetual terror threat in the Capital. The main goal of Indian Mujahideen, Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami and Lashkar-e-Toiba is to strike Delhi the hardest.

“Since it’s the national capital, terror outfits think that carrying out strikes here will have international implications, and the world will acknowledge their act of insane brutality. There is always a terror threat in Delhi,” said a senior police officer who, for the last two decades, has been involved in counter-terrorist operations in Delhi.

Sharing his twenty years of experience, the officer said members of terror outfits are fanatical people and their main motive is to create panic among people. “Remorseless, these men don’t show any sign of guilt on their face. They are tough nuts to crack. If caught they try to justify their doings,” he said.

Changes in trend

In the last decade, security agencies have seen changes in terror activities in Delhi. Earlier, foreign terrorists were directly involved in carrying out strikes in the city. They would enter India through one of the numerous porous borders that India share with Bangladesh and Nepal. They would strike and then flee via the same route.

Over the years some terrorist organisations started setting up bases in Delhi, and lately they have been successful in motivating some local residents to run homegrown terror modules.

“Things have changed a lot. Now homegrown terror modules are carrying out strikes in the city on directions from terrorists holed up in Pakistan and West Asian countries,” said the officer.

Citing the Parliament attack in 2001, the officer said that on December 13, 2001, five gunmen infiltrated Parliament House in a car bearing the Union home ministry’s and Parliament’s stickers, and opened up in a ‘suicide attack’. The assault was carried out by members of LeT and Jaish-e-Mohammed, who came from Pakistan. They also got help from local sympathisers in India.

Homegrown terror outfit

From 2006 onwards, homegrown terror module — Indian Mujahideen — formed by five students in Bhatkal in Karnataka in 2003, started carrying out attacks across the country.

IM was engineered with the help of Pakistani intelligence and LeT to spread terror in India.

The influence of conservative Islam, and funding from Pakistan and the Middle East, helped radicalise youth members of the banned Students’ Islamic Movement of India, ultimately achieving the goal of making homegrown terrorists.

Riyaz Bhatkal, Iqbal Bhatkal, Aamir, Mohammad Tariq Anjuman Hasan and Fasih Mahmood transformed SIMI into Indian Mujahideen.

On September 13, 2008, IM members for the first time carried our serial blasts within 45 minutes in Connaught Place, Karol Bagh’s Gaffar market and M-Block market in Greater Kailash-1 in south Delhi. At least 25 people were killed and over 100 were injured.

Since then the homegrown terror outfit has carried out five attacks in Delhi. Before that, attacks in the Capital were carried out by Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami and LeT.

Police have managed to bust three IM terror modules so far, and some 30 terrorists have been arrested within four years.

Anti-terror wing under flak

The anti-terror wing of the Delhi police special cell has also faced criticism from various organisations and government representatives after the Batla House encounter, which took place on September 19, 2008. The cops had launched an operation against suspected IM members in Batla House area in Jamia Nagar.

Two suspected terrorists, Atif Amin and Mohamed Sajid, were killed and two other suspects Mohammad Saif and Zeeshan were arrested. Another accused Ariz Khan managed to escape. Encounter specialist and inspector Mohan Chand Sharma, who led the operation, was also killed in the firefight.

After this operation the anti-terror wing of Delhi police was put on the back burner for almost two years. The Jamia Teachers’ Solidarity Association, which was formed after the Batla House encounter, recently released a report alleging that the special cell had arrested 14 innocent people for terror activities, who were acquitted by court.

Refuting the allegation, Delhi police spokesperson Rajan Bhagat said that six cases out of the 16 referred to in the report have actually ended in conviction, while one case is pending trial.

“One case has not been investigated by the special cell at all. Of the eight cases that ended in acquittal, in five cases our appeals are pending against the order of the trial court before the Delhi High Court,” he said.

Special cell revived now

It was after B K Gupta took charge as the police commissioner on November 10, 2010, that the special cell got a new lease of life.

He brought in some good counter-terror officers — Ashok Chand and Sanjeev Kumar Yadav — in the cell. The team, under additional commissioner Ashok Chand, busted two terror modules with the arrest of 18 terrorists.

Recent arrests and threats

In last few months intelligence have manged to nab four top terrorists -- Abu Jundal, Fasih Mohamed, Abdul Karim Tunda and Yasin Bhatkal.

Five suspected IM members were also arrested for involvement in the August 1 Pune serial blasts. With their arrest police found out that they had plans to carry out blasts in Delhi and Bihar in the upcoming festival season.

Sayed Maqbool, who hails from Maharashtra’s Nanded district, was arrested in Hyderabad on Tuesday for executing the blasts.

Earlier, police had arrested Asad Khan, 33, and Imran Khan, 31, from their hideouts in south-east Delhi’s Pul Prahladpur on September 26. Sayed Feroz alias Hamza, 38, was nabbed in Nizamuddin railway station on October 1 and Landge Irfan Mustafa, 30, was arrested in Jaipur on October 10.

“We have managed to bust the IM module behind the Pune bombings, but we are aware that over two dozen operatives are still at large. We also completely agree that there may be many more who are yet to be identified. We are trying to unearth the entire group by interrogating the arrested operatives. We will keep gathering intelligence about possible suspects,” said special commissioner of police (special cell) S Srivastava.

Security agencies have also managed to bring two terrorists from Saudi Arabia recently — Fasih Mahmood, one of IM’s founders, and Abu Jundal, LeT member who also plotted the 26/11 Mumbai attacks, Abdul Karim Tunda, LeT member, and Yasin Bhatkal, IM founder.

Security tightened

Police have identified hundreds of vulnerable locations were terrorists may strike in the upcoming festivals. They have tightened security in those areas, and are gathering intelligence about possible terror activities in Delhi.

Additional armed teams have been deployed in several areas, and Quick Reaction Team commandos armed with sophisticated weapons have also sent to various locations.

“Security has been beefed up and additional forces have been deployed to ensure safety. All security mechanisms have been put into place," said Rajan Bhagat.

This story was written by me and was published in Deccan Herald