Close encounters of the troubling kind

"Fake encounters are nothing but cold-blooded, brutal murders by persons who are supposed to uphold the law" death penalty was prescribed by Supreme Court — for involving in an act of extra-judicial killing.

The Hindu : Opinion / Editorial : Close encounters of the troubling kind: "As a way of dealing with the perceived pressure of public opinion following terror strikes or violent crimes, police forces across India sometimes resort to the custodial murder of prime suspects, often with a nudge and a wink from the top."


If the law does not deter criminal acts by those in authority, we are in deep trouble as a society.

Charged with terror, damned by aliases

"The incredible story of boy ‘terrorist' Mohammad Aamir whose youth was destroyed because of his wrongful arrest and 14-year long incarceration."

Over the following 14 years, the darkness and isolation of Aamir's solitary high-security cell became his world even as the world outside changed unrecognisably. His father, in financial ruin and broken from failing to free his only son, died without Aamir knowing about it. His mother, struck down by a brain haemorrhage, lost her voice and became paralytic.

The Hindu : Opinion / Op-Ed : Charged with terror, damned by aliases: When Aamir, now 32, finally walked free, he had been acquitted in 18 of the 20 terror cases — an astonishing acknowledgement of the lack of evidence against him. 

Indeed without a single witness in any of the cases connecting him to the blasts, the trial court — which acquitted him in 17 cases — came up with the same line on each judgment day: “there is absolutely no incriminating evidence against the accused.” The Delhi High Court which overturned one of the three cases that went into appeal said: “the prosecution has miserably failed to adduce any evidence to connect the accused appellant with the charges framed, much less prove them.” 

His case reinforces the demand for urgent police reforms.