2013 saw violent, heinous crime through out

Started on a sad note with continuous protests and public outcry over December 16 brutal gang rape and murder case of a 23-year-old physiotherapist, the year 2013 witnessed major changes in policing and approach of lawmakers towards the victims. Some new strategies were adopted to make that city safe for citizens, especially women.

However, the year also observed violent and heinous crimes across the city, including cases of sexual assault.

On February 25, two siblings -- Mansij (7) and his sister Yashbi (5) -- were abducted from Pandav Nagar and killed later and thrown in the bushes near Pragati Maidan. The incident left people in shock as the police handled the case with negligence. The perpetrator -- the victims’ uncle Amit Singh -- was in front of police but they could find his role in the kidnapping. It only after the bodies were recovered, police found Singh’s role and arrested him.

It was surprising to find December 16 rape case main accused Ram Singh hanging in Tihar Jail on March 11. The Tihar officials said that Singh hung himself using his clothes probably his own shirt. The manner in which the incident has unfolded brought forward conspiracy theories as it was unlikely for the accused to succeed in his suicide bid using his clothes and without any intervention.

The brazen daylight shooting of Deepak Bhardwaj, the richest candidate of the 2009 general elections, left Delhi horrified on March 26. Billionaire realtor and former BSP candidate Bhardwaj was shot dead by two assailants inside his 35-acre farmhouse-resort in Rajokri area. His younger son Nitesh and a lawyer Baljeet Sehrawat were behind murder and it was one the biggest contract conspiracy of amount Rs 5 crore in the history of Delhi.

But the brutal gang rape of a five-year-old girl in Gandhi Nagar on April 15 by her two neighbours and police callous attitude in probing the incident again invited public outcry where people started demanding resignation of then police chief Neeraj Kumar.  The girl was recovered from neighbour house where she was left to die for four days.

On May 11, the murder of inspector with Delhi Police's anti-terror wing Badrish Dutt, 45, and his female friend Geeta Sharma, 45, who worked as a private detective, with gunshot injuries in her house in Sector 52 of Gurgaon left police in shock. The Gurgaon police said that Geeta first shot dead Badrish with his service revolver and then committed suicide. However, the police theory was doubted by various investigators.

Cracking Indian Premier League spot fixing with arrest of three Rajasthan Royals players Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankit Chavan and punters on May 18, brought lot of accolades for the commissioner of police Neeraj Kumar. Rajasthan Royals owner Raj Kundra and his business partner-friend Umesh Goenka were also questioned in connection with the spot-fixing scandal. The police also named Dawood Ibrahim and his aide Chhota Shakeel  in the IPL spot fixing case.

Before retirement, police chief Neeraj Kumar ensured that chargesheet in IPL spot fixing case as well as much forgotten Hansie Cronje match fixing case will be filed. The charge sheets in both the cases were filed before retirement.  Police filed chargesheet against Dawood Ibrahim, his aide Chhota Shakeel and others for their alleged involvement in the Indian Premier League spot-fixing case in which suspended cricketers S Sreesanth, Ajit Chandila and Ankeet Chavan were also arrested.

The verdict of 2008 Batla House encounter on July 25 where Shahzad Ahmad was found guilty of killing Delhi Police inspector Mohan Chand Sharma gave a morale boost to anti-terror wing of Delhi Police.

Seeing stunt biker’s menace in the national capital, the police announced in July that stern action would be taken against them. While stopping bikers to perform stunt in front of Winsor Place in New Delhi area on July 28, police fired at them where 19 year old Karan Pandey died in the incident.  The incident received criticism from all front.

BS Bassi takes over as Delhi Police chief on July 31 and Neeraj Kumar left the office with teary eyes.

But the day he was retired, a 23 year-old student of Jawaharlal Nehru University axed his woman classmate, with whom he was having an affair, multiple times and later drank poison and slashed his neck. The woman has been ignoring him of late. He succumbed to injuries in hospital, while the girl is struggling for her life. The incident left academicians in shock and debate started over security in JNU.

On September 17, the mysterious death of a 21-year-old the US-based NRI Anmol Sarna pointed to rampant drug use by students. Six people, including two security guards and four of the victim's friends, were arrested but were later were granted bail.

On October 24, police made it clear that the city has no place for gangsters. The city’s top gangster Neetu Dabodia, carrying a reward of Rs 7 lakhs, was killed in an encounter with special cell. The incident took place near Grand hotel in Vasant kunj.

In the month of December, the suicide of a 55-year-old executive director of a NGO at Vasant Kunj brought back the new rape laws in lime-light. The executive director of Institute for Social Democracy -- Khurshid Anwar – jumped to death after he saw a video on a social networking site where a 23-year-old girl was campaigning against him alleging sexual assault.

The year ended with citizen friendly approach of the police where around 50 police officials were served noticed for not entertaining the victims.

Zero-tolerance against terrorism  

The year started with a message zero-tolerance against terrorism.  The convicted accused of 2001 Parliament attack Afzal Guru was secretly executed and buried inside the Tihar jail complex on February 9 morning.

With this ended the decade-long uncertainty over the execution of the surrendered militant from Sopore, Kashmir, as his mercy petition got caught up in a political slugfest between the Congress-led UPA government and the opposition Bharatiya Janata Party. Afzal Guru was woken up around 5 a.m. after which he offered namaz. He was served tea and medically examined before being taken to the gallows near his cell in jail number three.

After Afzal hanging, the security was stepped up at several places of the capital including the India Gate following a fresh terror alert was issued by the Home Ministry on February 24. The entry for common people was restricted near Amar Jawan Jyoti circle at India Gate in Central Delhi.

The anti-terror wing of Delhi Police caught a big catch after they managed to nab one of India's 20 most wanted terrorists, Abdul Karim Tunda, from the Indo-Nepal border on August 16.  He was arrested with a Pakistani passport issued in January this year. Tunda, around 70 years old and wanted in 21 cases, is accused of masterminding over 40 bomb blasts in New Delhi, Panipat, Sonepat, Ludhiana, Kanpur and Varanasi between December 1996 and January 1998 that left 21 dead and over 400 injured.  The police also said that Tunda had planned to carry out bombings in and around Delhi in 2010 at the time of the Commonwealth Games, but the plan was timely thwarted with the arrest of his accomplices who were supposed to carry out the attack. He is also accused of involvement in the 1993 Mumbai serial blasts case.

Another big catch by anti-terror wing was a suspected Lashkar-e-Toiba operative Mohammed Shahid. He was arrested from Mewat in Haryana by Delhi Police  on December 11 which claimed to have busted a terror module planning to attack prominent market places in the national capital.

Shahid was arrested from Nuh in Mewat. The terror module was spread across Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan. A top LeT commander, identified as Javed Baluchi and believed to be operating from Pakistan, was their handler.

But the anti-terror wing received flak from various other investigative agencies on arrest of suspected Hizbul militant Liyaqat Shah. Shah's arrest on March 20 from Gorakhpur in Uttar Pradesh had generated much controversy. While the Delhi Police insisted that he had entered India via Nepal to execute a terror attack similar to the Mumbai's 26/11 attack to coincide with the festival of Holi, the Jammu and Kashmir government said the 45-year-old was a militant who was headed home as part of an amnesty and rehabilitation scheme for men who had crossed over to Pakistan.

The case was transferred to the National Investigation Agency and his subsequent release on bail left them red faced.

Even Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullah came out in open and criticised the Delhi police for arresting Liyaqat and under pressure from all the quarters, the Ministry of Home Affairs transferred the case to National Investigation Agency.

Changes in Law

Zero FIR

The police introduced zero-Fir concept this year.  The much hyped rape case against self styled Godman, Asaram Bapu and his associates was filed in Delhi. Zero FIR was registered against Bapu and his associates by Delhi Police for allegedly raping a 16-year-old girl at their Jodhpur based Ashram. The case was later transferred to Jodhpur police.

Big Catch 

The Delhi Police arrested the self styled Godman Asaram Bapu’s son Narayan Sai, wanted in a rape case in Gujarat, on December 4 by Delhi Police after a two-month search in many states. He caught along with his aides near Haryana Punjab border while trying to enter from Delhi disguised as a Sikh man. The police said the 41-year-old stayed in Rajasthan, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh as he hid from the police, changing his appearance frequently.

Court Changes 

Fast-track courts are set up to hear rape cases, new laws were passed to ensure minimum 20 years imprisonment sentences for rape and the death penalty for rapes where the victim dies or is left in a vegetative state. Molestation cases are now non bailable offence.

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