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