Khaki Meets Khadi

When Delhi Police바카라�s much-feted 바카라�encounter specialist바카라� ACP Rajbir Singh was shot dead by a property dealer friend in the latter바카라�s Gurgaon office back in 2008, there were immediate signs that something was not quite kosher. The then top cop ordered that nobody from the force was to attend his funeral. For a fabled officer credited with 42 바카라�kills바카라� and conferred with two out-of-turn promotions, a PRO was the sole representative of the 85,000-strong Delhi Police in attendance. The most nominal of gestures possible.

Political leaders, who had often patted him on his back and benefited from his kills, too preferred to give it a quiet miss. So did sundry former commissioners and heads of the anti-terror Special Cell, who had basked in the glory each of his encounters brought them. His 바카라�kills바카라� included western UP gangsters notorious in the 1990s, Kashmiri militants and Pakistan-trained terrorists. He was the key officer in charge of two of the biggest terror cases바카라�the Red Fort attack of 2000 and the Parliament attack of 2001바카라�both heralded as great investigation successes, but also questioned, in equal measure, by lawyers and human rights activists.

Rajbir바카라�s rise in Delhi Police was meteoric and unprecedented바카라�from a mere sub-inspector to an ACP in 13 years, a non-IPS officer who cracked the top echelons, aided by those out-of-turn promotions. His exploits earned him the praise of politicians, helped him forge close bonds with intelligence operatives, as also a network of underworld informers.

What, then, brought about such an end? That very conspicuous avoidance by the system? 바카라�Acquiring a larger-than-life image and beginning to believe the legend built around him, he had waded into the grey zone,바카라� says a former Delhi Police colleague. 바카라�In his impatience for results, he disregarded procedures and methods, much like some other encounter specialists. It was his adrenaline-driven bluster and near-manic daredevilry that had made Rajbir the star of Delhi Police. His seniors knew his methods were questionable, but they preferred to turn a blind eye. He was giving them results.바카라�

But the glory had begun to fade by the time he was killed. His methods and encounters were under a cloud; allegations against him had become stronger. Rajbir was shot twice from close range by a revolver he himself had 바카라�arranged바카라� for property dealer Vijay Bhardwaj, a long-time friend. CBI investigations revealed Rajbir had 바카라�business dealings바카라� with Bhardwaj and the latter owed him Rs 65 lakh. That day, he had gone to pick up the money after sending a threat via SMS: 바카라�Give me my money or you are no more.바카라�

By this time, ACP Rajbir Singh바카라�s name had been linked with the drug mafia and satta racketeers; extortion was being spoken of, and land-grabbing and cutting advantageous deals in property disputes. He operated out of a plush two-storied house in Lajpat Nagar. While investigating the Amar Singh phone-tapping case in 2005, he is believed to have established a good rapport with the politician.

Thanks to his political connections, Rajbir somehow managed to escape serious legal wrangles even though he was investigated a few times바카라�by the vigilance department, by the narcotics wing and also the CBI. Even the Delhi High Court had issued notices on charges that he and his colleagues manhandled some people in west Delhi바카라�s Kirti Nagar in connection with a property dispute.

Rajbir is believed to have had gained the trust of then home minister Lal Krishna Advani after an anti-­terror operation he led in Kashmir in 1998, in which Hizbul Mujahideen바카라�s deputy supreme ­commander Ali Mohammed Dar was gunned down. Later, as deputy PM in 2002, Advani even visited Ansal Plaza in south Delhi바카라�the site of a con­troversial ­encounter in which two all­eged LeT terrorists, Ejaz Ahmad and Abu Anas, were gunned down바카라�along with the IB director. The visit was cited as the ­biggest defence by the pol­ice to show the encounter was authentic, not stage-managed.

바카라�He had somehow inveigled Advaniji and had unhindered access to him. In fact, Rajbir even used to brag about having a hand in the appointment of a police commissioner, someone not particularly seen as deserving. He apparently assured the officer that he would get him the top post and then promptly went and arranged it,바카라� a retired police official tells Outlook.

Sources say Rajbir had become so emboldened by his connections that he was willing to throw all caution to the wind. 바카라�Many of his kills were genuine but several others raised doubts. But he always had friends from the IB to certify his encounters or the identity of the 바카라�terrorist바카라� killed. It was a win-win situation for all. That바카라�s the reason he had an unbridled run,바카라� the former cop explains.

It바카라�s been over nine years since Rajbir met his end, and the Special Cell of Delhi Police is certainly not the same. An officer mentored by Rajbir, Inspector Mohan Chand Sharma, died six months after him in the controversial Batla House encounter. The 바카라�encounters바카라� have more or less died down with a new breed of officers taking over the reins of the force. The new generation includes Rajbir바카라�s son, Rahul Rajbir Singh. He was 16 when his father died and realised the ACP바카라�s dream of seeing him as an IPS officer in 2016.

The young officer, understandably, refuses to be drawn into the controversies surrounding his father바카라�s way of operating or whether an extra-legal edge colours the fight against terror. 바카라�I cannot say anything about it. I don바카라�t have the requisite experience,바카라� says Rahul Rajbir Singh. He is posted as ACP in Patel Nagar, West District. His father바카라�s first stint as ACP too was in West District, where he is credited with several high-profile encounters while heading the Operations Cell.

Rajbir is hardly the only police officer who operated in an ethical grey zone. The Indian police forces are replete with stories of officials who enjoy political patronage and in return allow themselves to be used by the state to settle scores. Even the CBI, the country바카라�s premier investigating agency, has failed to escape allegations of bowing to political pressure바카라�recall that it was the Supreme Court that called it a 바카라�caged parrot바카라� that 바카라�speaks in its master바카라�s voice바카라�. This was in May 2013, during hearings on the coal scam바카라�a time when there was no dearth of political pressure or vested interests to be served.

R.K. Raghavan, former CBI director (and now high commissioner to Cyprus), has talked about political interference in policing on several occasions. He wrote once how 바카라�the DGP has become a handmaiden of the chief minister, doing the latter바카라�s bidding, legal and illegal. Or else he can바카라�t survive. The northern states, especially Bihar and UP, take the cake for the politicisation of the police force.바카라�

Not that other regions are immune. Raman Srivastava, a Kerala cadre 1973-batch IPS officer, who now lives the quiet, retired life of a pepper farmer in his adopted state, prefers not to revisit his halcyon days when he was known to be very close to then CM K. Karunakaran. Srivastava was sought to be implicated in the ISRO espionage case, perhaps to embarrass Karunakaran. 바카라�I don바카라�t want to make any comments,바카라� he tells Outlook, citing his role as an advisor to the state police.

His proximity to Karunakaran had made him the target of the Opposition in 1994-95. The LDF had demanded Srivastava바카라�s resignation, alleging he was protecting the real culprits. Karunakaran had stood by him. Srivastava was later exonerated by the CBI, as were two key ISRO scientists D. Sasikumaran and S. Nambi Narayanan. The case went down as an attempt by foreign agencies to slow down the indigenous cryogenic engines project.

But Raghavan is perhaps not off the mark about the northern states. Dr Ajoy Kumar, a 1986 batch IPS officer of Bihar cadre, is now one of Congress바카라�s national spokespersons. He was also the Jamshedpur MP, winning a mid-term election in 2011 as a candidate of Babulal Marandi바카라�s Jharkhand Vikas Morcha. During his policing days, he too had earned the tag of an 바카라�encounter specialist바카라�. Another sobriquet bestowed on him was that of 바카라�Laloo바카라�s blue-eyed boy바카라�. As the SP of Jamshedpur (in undivided Bihar), he was responsible for nearly two dozen encounters and the arrest of three big dons.

One of his batch-mates says the pressure got too much for him. One incident he recalls was a raid on the residence of a minister. After the raid, Kumar was asked to give a complaint against his own officer. However, he preferred to quit. He joined the Congress in 2014. Kumar is candid as he talks about the symbiotic relationship between khaki and khadi. It바카라�s the police leadership at the IPS level that바카라�s mainly responsible for politicisation, he says, as they have mostly forsworn their independence.

He says 99 per cent of policing doesn바카라�t involve politicians, and brooks no interference from them. But that leaves a crucial one per cent. 바카라�It바카라�s in this minuscule number of cases that politicians use the police to influence outcomes or to protect someone. The police leadership obliges because they want their little favours바카라�transfer/postings of their choice,바카라� he explains.

This morally grey zone also brings in a layer of immunity. 바카라�By helping politicians in one per cent cases, the policemen get a free hand to get 99 per cent illegal work done without any fear of action. This may be land-grabbing, extortion, prostitution, illegal construction. This allows policemen to become a law unto themselves,바카라� Kumar adds.