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
