Fact
Finding Report On The Attack
on RSS Head Quarters
Fact Finding Report
13 July, 2006
Countercurrents.org
Constituent Member Organizations:
People's Union for Civil
Liberties, Nagpur
Committee for Protection
of Democratic Rights, Mumbai
Dharm Nirpeksh Nagrik Munch,
Nagpur
Andra Pradesh Civil Liberties
Committee, Hyderabad
Indian Association of People's
Lawyers
Bahujan Sangarsh Samity
List of Members
Head of the Team: Justice
B G Kolse Patil, Rtd Judge of Mumbai HighCourt
Convenor
Dr Suresh Khairnar,
Members
1. Dr Anand Teltumde, CPDR, Mumbai
2. Adv P Suresh Kumar, Andra
Pradesh Civil Liberties Committee, Hyderabad
3. Mr Ahmed Latif Khan, Civil
Liberty Monitoring Committee, Hyderabad
4. Dr D John Chelladurai,
India Peace Centre, Nagpur
5. Mr Nagesh Choudhury, Bahujan
Sangarsh Samiti, Nagpur
6. Mr Arvind Ghosh, PUCL,
Nagpur
7. Adv Anil Kale, Indian
Assn of People's Lawyers
8. Adv Surendra Gadling,
Indian Assn of People's Lawyers
9. Mr Gaffar shakir, Dharm
Nirpeksh Nagrik Munch, Nagpur
10. Mr A K Ghosh, PUCL, Nagpur
11. Mr Arvind Deshmukh, Bahujan
Sangarsh Samiti, Nagpur
12. Mr T V Kathane, Nagpur,
Bahujan Sangarsh Samiti, Nagpur
13. Adv Anand Gajbhiye, IAPL,
Nagpur
Introduction: The nation awoke on June 01, 2006 hearing
the shocking news of an attempted attack on the RSS headquarters building.
It was a respite that the news of police foiling the attempt too came
along.
The news of attempted attack on the Head Quarters of the RSS reportedly
by 'Fidayeen', Pak based terrorist group, sent a spine chilling fear
in the minds of millions of peace loving people in the country. We all
know very well, the potential of such a happening to ignite a trail
of tragic clashes among the communities. The peace loving masses heaved
a sigh of relief as the leaders of every community promptly condemned
the heinous act and appealed to the masses to maintain peace, and peace
did prevail.
In the next twenty four hours quite a lot of information, almost all
the information pertain to the attackers had been published obviously
supplied by the police department to the media. The narrative of the
whole encounter as reported on June 02, 2006, in stead of clearing the
mystery of the attackers, unfortunately confounded the citizens all
the more. The reports were conflicting and leaving innumerable questions
on ground zero situation unanswered.
The foiled attempt and the appreciable tranquility maintained by the
masses were a great relief. However the deadly weapon and ammunition
with which the 'fidayeen' (as told by the Commissioner of Police) appeared,
and the ease with which the police claim to have liquidated them, suggested
that the Police team had a 'cake walk' over the deadly terrorists.
The very next day a section of the media aired their doubt over the
whole happening (as reported by the Police Commissioner), most of them
quoting wide sections of the national community, including senior leaders.
The peace loving social activists and campaigners for communal harmony
based in Nagpur were at first relieved by the success of the police
over terrorist. However the confounding report appeared in the media
and the doubts aired by masses and leaders prompted them to read between
the lines. Particularly, the 'Islamic' terrorist attempting to attack
RSS Head Quarters has a larger implication. It has the potential to
push the nation into a communal strife. Scuh a thing should not be allowed
to happen in any manner, orchestrated by any group. The confounding
report of the 'encounter' therefore requires an honest study.
The above stated social organizations, hence constituted a Fact Finding
Team comprised of the above mentioned activists. The team is headed
by Mr B G Kolse Patil, retired Judge of Mumbai High Court, and Convened
by Dr Suresh Khairnar, a renowned social thinker.
The team visited the site of the encounter, spoke to the people residing
in the vicinity. The team also visited the RSS Head Quarters and met
Mr Shirish Wate, the HQ incharge. The team went to Government Medical
College to meet the Doctors who carried out the postmortem. Dr Dhavane,
who was present gave elementary information and declined to give any
detail. The team spoke to Dr Vibhawari Dani, Dean, Govt Medical Hospital
and College. The Dean also declined to talk over the postmortem report.
It was a classified document, she said. The team repeatedly sought an
appointment with the Commissioner of Police. The CP too declined to
meet the team. On the contrary the CP asked the respectable members
their credentials, who funded the team, what international connection
does the team have and similar questions, with apparent intention to
intimidate the team from their earnest effort to help the society to
know the truth.
Incident: as reported by Mr S P S Yadav, the Commissioner of
Police, Nagpur
The Special squad of the City police who were on high alert following
specific input from intelligence agency spotted a white Ambassador car
moving in a suspicious manner in Lakdi Pul in Mahal area and started
tailing it. Two cars, a Tata Sumo and a Qualis were used in the operation.
The tailing cars were unmarked and all police personal in it were wearing
plain clothes.
When the ambassador car with red beacon atop moved towards RSS Head
Quarters, one for the constables in the Tata Sumo casually asked the
young occupants about their intentions. Rattled by the enquiry the militants
opened fire on the police vehicle even as they tried to get away. In
the process they dashed into the barricade near the eastern side of
the RSS HQ. The alert cops led by PSI Rajendra Tiwari, PSI Arvind Saraf
and PSI JA More replied to the Gunfire. It was their bulletproof jackets
that saved police personnel. The terrorists also threw a hand grenade
on the police party. But it failed to explode. They threw the grenade
without pulling out the pin.
The gun battle lasted about 20 minutes in which the militants fired
76 rounds while the cops retaliated with 63 rounds. The terrorists had
three AK-M automatic weapons, 12 hand grenades and 5.6 Kgs of highly
explosive materials with them. They also had three spare magazines for
their fire arms each carrying 30 rounds. They had hundred and twenty
rounds each, said Mr S P S Yaday
Mr Yadav also reported to have said, looking at their preparation and
determination to storm RSS HQ at any cost despite heavy police deployment,
indicates that it was a 'fidayeen' attack. Refusing to divulge the exact
identity of the three militants, who were in the age group of 20-22
years, Mr Yadav described them as 'Islamic militants.' At this point
of time, he added, it is too premature to associate them with any outfit.
The Media Report
As per the details received from the police a white Ambassador car MH
20-8979 with a red beacon and three persons on board dressed as police
sub-inspectors, was first spotted by the patrolling police party at
the central avenue some time before the incident. The car was heading
towards Badkas Chowk. As it emerged form Chitaroli, two police vehicles,
a Tata Sumo carrying two PSI and five constables and a Toyoto Qualis
with 5 PSI got suspicious about the car. The police vehicles hastened
the chase of the suspicious ambassador car. At Badkas chowk the ambassador
car took a left turn towards Junta chowk and again turned right towards
the Sangh building from the Lakdipul side. Presuming the car might have
gone towards Ayachit mandir the police stopped the chase for a while.
However when the police jeep came back to the same place during their
routine patrol, they noticed the same car in a small alley between Lakdipul
and Gajanand Mandir towards the eastern gate of the RSS Head Quarters.
The Police vans then closed in on the ambassador car. However, without
paying heed to the police patrol the car tried to force its way through
the temporary barricade erected 50 meters before the main entrance of
the RSS HQ.
At this juncture the PSI Tiwari intercepted the ambassador car and enquired
as to where it was heading. Instantly thereafter the two ultras who
were seated on the rear seats came out of the car with a grenade in
their left hand and AK56 rifle in the right hand. One of them lobbed
the grenade at the police, but since the pin was not fully removed it
failed to explode. Seeing this the ultras opened indiscriminate fire
at the police party. In the melee PSI Saraf who just alighted from the
police vehicle got hit at his abdomen. However, since he was wearing
a bullet proof west the bullet did not pierce his body.
Soon after this police force and the ultras started exchanging fire
in which two of the three militants were killed on the spot. The driver
of the car then tried to flee towards the Bhauji Daftari School. However
he could not escape the bullets from the police and he too was killed
on the spot. The entire shoot out went on for just around 15 minutes
between 4.00 and 4.15 AM. The police then informed the control room
and the commissioner of Police about the shoot out. The senior police
officers immediately reached the spot and shifted at the three ultras
to the government medical college where they were declared brought dead.
The members of Dautkani family
along with other neighbours woke up at the sound of the firing and one
of his family members opened the door of their house to peep outside.
However alert cops told the family members to shut the door and remain
inside the house only. It was to prevent the terrorist from taking shelter
in the Dautkani house and taking them as hostages. The operation was
carried out by the city police successfully without any loss of life
other than that of the militants.
The press reported on the 2nd June that, all the three terrorists are
said to be Pak nationals. Two of them hailed from Lahore and the third
from Gujrangwala. The police had seized from the place a dairy which
contained email address in Urdu, a few phone numbers of Lohare and Gujrangwala.
Rs 45,000 and maps of the city were recovered from the terrorist. The
names of three terrorists are said to be Afsal Ahmed Bhat, Bailal Ahmed
Bhat and Mohammed Usman Habib.
Loksatta, (Indian Express Group) Nagpur Marathi edition, dated June
03 2006 carried an article containing the following detail. 'Normally
the attacks by the terrorists are preplanned meticulously and they seldom
fail in their attempt. This being the public opinion, the recent futile
attempt by the terrorist on RSS building and the success gained by the
police in thwarting the attempt creates suspicion in public mind as
well as among RSS people and their rivals. Though normally terrorists
claim the responsibility of the attack, no terrorist group has claimed
any responsibility to this attempt. Therefore the question arises, whether
they were hardcore Islamic terrorist or just any other new comers.
According to police statement,
threat of attack on RSS head quarters loomed large for the last one
year and there was security cordon around the building. Yet the attackers
seemed to have no idea of any of them, neither did they seem to know
the roads leading to RSS building. And no map of the building and its
surrounding could be found with them. During the whole encounter with
the police the terrorists got only one chance to lob a grenade and that
too did not explode. Not a single policeman was injured by the bullets
of the attackers, put a question mark on the
ability of the terrorists. The attackers could bring a car load of guns
and bullets, hand grenades, powerful explosives like RDX from places
thousands of kilometers away without being detected or checked by any
police or civic authorities, is a matter of surprise even in the RSS
circle. The RSS which usually take such attack on them seriously and
go for nationwide protest, unusually kept extraordinary silence and
the morning Shaka at the Head Quarters went on with more people attending
it. It was a surprise even among the cadres of RSS. This also has created
among their functionaries doubt over the bona fide of the attackers.
However, they speak in a low
voice.
Mahanayak, a Marathi news paper from Mumbai, published a title page
news from its special correspondent from Nagpur, with the caption: "Mahanayak's
Special Story on the Attack on RSS Head Quarters." The news goes
like this: There is a talk among the Nagpur police that, of the 11 police
who conducted the encounter, 6 police did not even know how to handle
a carbine. Some of them were under demotion on account of departmental
disciplinary action, and they were given this 'chance' to prove their
'worthiness.' Sources close to the police circle say, none of the eleven
cops had special Commando training. The authorities punished two of
them, for they extorted from a 'gutka' merchant a huge amount (Rs 3.5
lakhs) five months ago, in the Panchpoli police station area. At the
orders of the CP they were shifted to another 'punishment' section.
Police inner circle is surprised at the composition of the squad for
most of them do not know to handle guns properly. The reporter gives
details of many indisciplines of the eleven police personals and wonders
how and on what basis they were selected for Special Squad to handle
such an important assignment in the RSS HQ.
Observations
1. When the police had prior
information about possible attack on RSS Head Quarters and the police
were prepared, as stated by the Commissioner of Police (CP), to handle
possible attack, why did they allow the attackers to go close to the
RSS HQ? Why did the Police not stop them at first sight?
2. We hear from the residents, that the police had a kind of rehearsal
to the 'encounter' few days back on the same spot. Police even fired
on air on the occasion, they claim. And when the actual encounter took
place, these residents said, they first thought that it was yet another
demonstration. Why did the police take a demo few days ago?
3. The CP has said, "when the ambassador car with red beacon atop
moved towards RSS HQ, one of the constables in the Tata Sumo casually
asked the young occupants about their intentions. Rattled by the inquiry
the militants opened fire on the police vehicle even as they tried to
get away." For the constable to ask casually, either he must have
brought his car (the police vehicle) side by side to the terrorist vehicle
or he (the constable) come by foot close to terrorist vehicle (and asked
them). In either case the constable must have been exposed to the terrorist
attack at close quarter. How did the constable escape unhurt? The narration
of the incident doesn't have any detail to clarify this.
4. There is no eyewitness to the whole happening. The encounter took
place according to the police at 4.15 AM. The bodies of the assailants
were removed even before the press reporters (who were the first people
other than the Police), reached the spot, close to 5.00 AM. Why this
hurry?
5. Day one media report says, Deputy Commissioner Mr Prabhat Kumar was
in the patrolling team and he smelled foul and started tailing it in
their unmarked blue Tata Sumo. Why did the CP not bring him (Mr P Kumar)
in his (CP) narration of the encounter? Why did CP hide the DCP?
6. Another report says that the patrolling police that tailed the ambassador
at one point "presumed the car might have gone towards Ayachit
mandir the police stopped the chase for a while. However when the police
jeep came back to the same place during their routine patrol, they noticed
the same car in a small alley between Lakdipul and Gajanand Mandir towards
the eastern gate of the RSS Head Quarters. As the point where the police
missed the ambassador car and the place where they saw them again are
the same small alley, do the police mean to say that the attackers were
waiting over there until then?
7. It is said that the attackers' car tried to force its way through
the barricade. The said barricade was installed a couple of weeks before
June 01 2006, in the aftermath of weapon seizure from antisocial elements
in the State. When the attackers came where were the sentries posted
at the barricade? They must have been the first one to stop the terrorists
or get attacked by the terrorists. Where were they?
8. The exchange of fire took place for twenty minutes, it was reported.
Can anyone explain how the police disabled the terrorists from using
the dozen hand grenades and the 360 rounds of bullets?
9. That the terrorists had 12 hand grenade, 360 rounds of bullets, 5.6
Kgs of highly explosive material which was later stated to be RDX, and
they battled for twenty minutes 'hopelessly' not using any of them,
is a narration that fails to convince common sense.
10. It was reported that the police recovered from the terrorists' vehicle
a sealed case containing 12 hand grenades. The terrorists coming on
a deadly mission carrying their munitions in sealed cases does not comply
the logic of terrorist attack. They did not even open them when they
were fighting for 20 minutes in a losing battle makes the narration
all the more unconvincing.
11. That the terrorists, reported to be 'fidayeen' who chose to travel
on white ambassador car with red beacon atop, not knowing what is the
official protocol but chose to wear PSI dress, does not comply with
the statement of the CP that the terrorists were a trained fidayeen.
12. The reported information that the police recovered wet underwear
and soaked bathing soap from the white ambassador car suggests that
they could not have been 'terrorists' on a mission involving their very
life.
13. The police declared them as 'Islamic' terrorist and Pak based 'fidayeen'.
The stated seizure of a diary containing all their names and their own
telephone numbers sounds farce. Usually we do not write our own telephone
numbers in our dairy. Terrorists of deadly mission carrying a dairy
with their own identities when they were on an attack, do not appeal
common sense.
14. Even if the police had found a dairy belonging to the attackers,
how did they decipher the code names and codified messages in so short
a time that in less than 10 hours the CP could reveal their identity
as 'Islamic' terrorist and 'fidayeen'? (the history of terrorist attack
tells clearly that the terrorist do not carry written documents. If
they have to write any they choose to write in codes and false names.)
15. What authentication did the police possess to finally declare them
as Muslim and bury them according to Islamic rituals? What was the hurry
to bury the dead bodies of the terrorists without establishing their
identity?
16. Few holes on the walls (opposite to Bharat Mahila Vidyalay) are,
said by the CID official present at the site, as bullet marks. Two of
the six marks found to be marks of bullets fired from right across,
at 90 degree. One bullet mark, as marked by the police on the Bharat
Mahila Vidyalay wall too clearly indicates that the bullet was fired
at 90 degree. Were the police and their vehicle come side by side the
terrorists? It was amusing, that the police officer present at the time
of the team's visit to the spot, told that bullet fired by police present
down the lane, from behind the terrorist vehicle possibly took an aerial
curve and hit the wall at 90 degree.
17. There is hardly any mark of terrorist bullets on the other side,
except on Police vehicle.
18. The blue Tata Sumo vehicle that was tailing behind the terrorist
vehicle had six bullet marks. Two of them at least apparently pistol
bullet marks. The police report did not mention terrorists having used
pistols. How did pistol bullet mark appear on the police vehicle?
19. The terrorists were reported to have fired from AK-M automatic guns.
The bullet marks on the blue Tata Sumo of the police bear bullet marks
that are all single shot marks. There is no series of bullet marks (which
is expected of if the opponent was using an automatic gun) that raises
the doubt over nature of exchange of fire.
20. One bullet hole was found (in the police blue Tata Sumo vehicle)
on the right side front door from inside. The point of hit was almost
at the hip of the driver. Had the driver been on his seat he must have
been hit. There was no report. It is clear that the driver was not in
the seat at the time of firing. We found bullet marks on the same police
vehicle hit from three angles on the left side of the vehicle. Three
bullets were 45 degree from behind, two bullets 90 degree on the left
and one bullet130 degree further that hit just below the front windshield.
The question is, if the vehicle is not on the move during the attack,
(as the bullet did not hit the driver), then how did the bullet mark
appear from three angles? This question assumes significance as it was
not possible for the terrorists to move to such wide range and fire
from all three angles, for, they were caught in their vehicle that was
trapped in a narrow alley and they were immobilized.
21. Mr S P S Yadav, Commissioner of Police is reported to have said,
"Looking at their preparation and determination to storm RSS HQ
at any cost despite heavy police deployment, indicates that it was a
'fidayeen' attack." This conclusion of the CP amounts to be hasty
in his decision; or the terrorists were in his hand prior to the encounter,
for him to know about them in detail.
22. On the site of the encounter was parked a white Maruti Omni car
at the premises of Mr Jopat, the compound wall being fenced by barbed
wire. As the house is the first one in the lane (in front of which raised
the barricade) and the attackers are in side the lane, if the police
wanted to target the attackers, they should have gone some where behind
this Maruti Omni car. When there was over 140rounds of fire, there is
not a single bullet mark on the vehicle. This creates strong doubts
over the nature of reported encounter.
Proposal:
The above raised scores of doubts arise in the mind of every citizen
who looks at the whole happening without any bias. The team wanted simple
clarifications for these doubts, from the Commissioner of police, Nagpur
and approached him continuously for five days. That the CP persistently
declined to meet the team and answer these simple strait queries, reveal
his
unwillingness / inability to face these fair queries. It also suggests
that he chose to hide certain facts from the masses.
All these confounding happenings lead the team to question the veracity
of the Commissioner of Police's narration of the encounter. The 'Cock
and Bull' story of the encounter thus compels the team to infer that
the encounter appears to be fake and requires, at the interest of the
nation society, a fair probing. The team therefore, calls upon the Central
government to appoint a Judicial Enquiry Committee headed by retired
Judge of the Supreme Court and probe the whole
episode.