Gandhi's autobiography again in stalls
MRITYUNJAY BOSE
Mumbai: Mahatma Gandhi's 'The Story of My Experiments with Truth' – is by all means a bestseller – with more than 43 lakh copies being sold so far – and it still continues to attract people. More and more people are purchasing this book – which is available in a dozen languages – Indian and foreign.
“In the present context of increasing violence, terrorism and crime, the autobiography and other books of Mahatma Gandhi are inspiring many people all over the world. Gandhiji has left indelible footprints on the sand of time. Even after 62 years of his departure from the world, his thoughts and deeds have not waned,” says veteran Gandhian, TRK Somaiya of Gandhi Book Centre and Mumbai Sarvodaya Mandal.
To commemorate Gandhiji's 62nd death anniversary, 300 books on and by Gandhi, Vinoba and Sarvodaya will be displayed and sold at 50% discount by Mumbai Sarvodaya Mandal and Gandhi Book Centre with the financial assistance of ‘Babulnath Mandir Charities’ from January 25-30 at an especially erected Mandap at Hutatma Chowk and at Gandhi Book Centre at Nana Chowk here.
"The message in the autobiography is unique," he said pointing out that several hundred copies are sold during the annual exhibition itself.
The 'My Experiments with Truth' – as the book is also known is originally published by Ahmedabad-based Navajivan Trust is available at Rs 30 and 'The Selected Works of Mahatma Gandhi' at Rs 75.
The autobiography is available in English, Hindi, Urdu, Gujarati, Bengali, Marathi, Malayalam, Kannada, Telegu, Asamese, Tamil and Oriya. Besides English, the other foreign languages in which it has been published are French, German, Spanish, Italian, Korean and Japanese.
Although the book did not have a great demand in the initial years of its publication the demand went up in 1984 after the release of Sir Richard Attenborough's film, Gandhi, in which Ben Kingsley essayed the role of the Mahatma, the Apostle of Peace.
Somaiya started selling the copies of the book outside cinema houses those days. When the demand for the book started going up, he set up the Gandhi Book Centre. Today the centre has nearly 200 titles on Gandhiji in different languages. There are 350 translated books.
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Shirish Inamdar gets President
Shirish Inamdar gets President's medal
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
bureaus@sakaaltimes.com
Mumbai: A veteran of intelligence gathering, assessment and training in Maharashtra Police, Shirish Inamdar – who has an unblemished service record of 32 years, has been conferred with President's Police Medal for Distinguished Service. Inamdar is currently Additional Deputy Commissioner (Political) in the State Intelligence Department (SID).
Prior to this assignment, he was Principal of Special Branch Training Institute and has trained hundreds of intelligence officers including the first batch of the intelligence cadre. He has won more than 200 rewards for the good work done by him. On August 15, 2000, he was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal by the President of India and subsequently the Director General's Insignia for meritorious service.
He joined the police as a Sub-Inspector in 1973 and he was ranked third in the batch of 165 cadets in the training course. He excelled himself in traffic, planning, management, coordination and public education. Since July 1986, he worked in CID (Intelligence) as Senior Intelligence Officer till January 1990. Here also he displayed skills in analysing intelligence.
He also headed the Social Service Branch and led from the front. During the stint in SSB, he organised various workshops, seminars and sensitization programme for police officers on various social issues like domestic violence against women, atrocities on women, elder abuse, intellectual property rights, piracy and so on. He too sustained action against obscenity, unconventional gambling, audio, video and software piracy. During his career, he has solved several cases of murders, robberies, dacoities and so on. Wherever he served, he created a good image of the police.
's medal
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
bureaus@sakaaltimes.com
Mumbai: A veteran of intelligence gathering, assessment and training in Maharashtra Police, Shirish Inamdar – who has an unblemished service record of 32 years, has been conferred with President's Police Medal for Distinguished Service. Inamdar is currently Additional Deputy Commissioner (Political) in the State Intelligence Department (SID).
Prior to this assignment, he was Principal of Special Branch Training Institute and has trained hundreds of intelligence officers including the first batch of the intelligence cadre. He has won more than 200 rewards for the good work done by him. On August 15, 2000, he was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal by the President of India and subsequently the Director General's Insignia for meritorious service.
He joined the police as a Sub-Inspector in 1973 and he was ranked third in the batch of 165 cadets in the training course. He excelled himself in traffic, planning, management, coordination and public education. Since July 1986, he worked in CID (Intelligence) as Senior Intelligence Officer till January 1990. Here also he displayed skills in analysing intelligence.
He also headed the Social Service Branch and led from the front. During the stint in SSB, he organised various workshops, seminars and sensitization programme for police officers on various social issues like domestic violence against women, atrocities on women, elder abuse, intellectual property rights, piracy and so on. He too sustained action against obscenity, unconventional gambling, audio, video and software piracy. During his career, he has solved several cases of murders, robberies, dacoities and so on. Wherever he served, he created a good image of the police.
's medal
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
ARCTIC RESEARCH
January 8, 2009
NEW SCIENTIFIC FRONTIERS
Fourth exploration planned to Arctic
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
Mumbai: A new exploration to the Arctic is being planned and the Government of India has invited scientific proposals on varied scientific topics like space weather and air quality research and aerosol studies to be conducted there.
So far India has sent 28 research missions to Antarctica since 1981 – and as far as the research in Arctic is concerned this would be the fourth mission.
The National Centre of Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR), an autonomous R & D institution under the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) has invited proposals. "We are now planning the fourth exploration mission, and it is a continuation of the programme that commenced nearly two years ago," a researcher of Goa-based NCAOR told Sakaal Times on Thursday.
The proposals have been invited from national scientific organisations/institutions, research laboratories and universities with a sustained interest in polar research for funded access to the Ny-Alesund Research Infrastructure in Svalbard, Norway. The research base is known as Himadri.
The research are planned in wide areas like – biogeochemical cycling of major elements in aquatic environment, space weather, air quality research and aerosol studies, community ecology of pelagic system, palaeoclimatological studies in Arctic region, genetic variability of flora and fauna with specific reference to cold adaptations.
NEW SCIENTIFIC FRONTIERS
Fourth exploration planned to Arctic
SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT
Mumbai: A new exploration to the Arctic is being planned and the Government of India has invited scientific proposals on varied scientific topics like space weather and air quality research and aerosol studies to be conducted there.
So far India has sent 28 research missions to Antarctica since 1981 – and as far as the research in Arctic is concerned this would be the fourth mission.
The National Centre of Antarctic and Ocean Research (NCAOR), an autonomous R & D institution under the Ministry of Earth Sciences (MoES) has invited proposals. "We are now planning the fourth exploration mission, and it is a continuation of the programme that commenced nearly two years ago," a researcher of Goa-based NCAOR told Sakaal Times on Thursday.
The proposals have been invited from national scientific organisations/institutions, research laboratories and universities with a sustained interest in polar research for funded access to the Ny-Alesund Research Infrastructure in Svalbard, Norway. The research base is known as Himadri.
The research are planned in wide areas like – biogeochemical cycling of major elements in aquatic environment, space weather, air quality research and aerosol studies, community ecology of pelagic system, palaeoclimatological studies in Arctic region, genetic variability of flora and fauna with specific reference to cold adaptations.
SAVE THE SPARROWS
Save Sparrows: They Are The Future
The number of sparrows is dwindling. And that too very fast. Though the issue may not strike us in one go, the decline in the number of sparrows is really a matter of concern. But one thing that is for sure is that as fellow citizens we can do out bit to save this bird. For Mumbai, our own city, the issue is more important.
"House sparrows (Passer domesticus) are the indicator of the environment and they are facing a serious threat. We need to generate funds for extensive research," says Dilawar Mohammed, adding that he would be visiting several places across the country to generate more data on sparrows and their decline.
Dilawar has been associated with the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) and have recently launched a website – www.natureforever.org – to save sparrows.
He said that the situation is "serious" as house sparrows are indicators of the environment and the decline shows that. Many reasons have been attributed to the decline of sparrows – like increasing use of pesticides, lack of insect food, lack of nesting places and electro-magnetic waves from towers.
Dilawar has also posted details on net ( http://dilawarmohammed.googlepages.com) - where many interesting facts about sparrows could be accessed.
Dilawar, who is a Project Manager for IBA-IUCN, pointed out: "When we were young we use to see women from the houses use to clean the grains, wheat rice and so on. At the same time, when they were sitting, sparrows use to come for the leftovers. But today we get everything packed – from retail shops and malls." He said that that the House Sparrows are declining gives signal that "there is something wrong in the environment".
"House Sparrows may not be critically endangered now, but in future it may happen. What happened to the vultures. In just 10 years they are facing extinction," Dilawar points out.
However, there is some good news. “The centre has sanctioned a three-year project to investigate the causes leading to the decline of the house sparrow in urban areas of India,” an excited Dilawar said.
Among the TIME's Heroes of Environment-2008, the Nashik-based naturalist pointed out that the decline in the house sparrow population in the United Kingdom and Western Europe has been widely recognized and taken very seriously.
The common house sparrows are nature’s bio-indicators and enjoy a
historical relationship with humans and have followed his colonization of
earth.
Nest boxes and feeders
Dilawar has now has started making next boxes and feeders in his hometown and is supplying to the purchasers on a no profit-no loss basis. "It is a simple device," he said, and pointed out that there is an urgent need for funds for undertaking study of sparrows, whom he refers to as "friends of the mankind".
Talking about nestboxes, he said, bird species can benefit greatly from nest boxes. Of the smaller species, it is normally birds that nest in holes or crevices that will use nest boxes to breed in. The most common being the house sparrow .
However other smaller birds will happily use an open fronted nest box to breed in. These include, robin, maynas, magpie robin. Some of these are quite common garden birds and providing they are placed correctly, nest boxes can provide a wonderful opportunity to witness first hand the beauty of nature.
There are two main types of nest boxes, the conventional nest box made from straight planks of timber in a box shape with a circular entrance hole and the natural nest box made from a hollowed out tree trunk. The difference being that the natural nest box looks very professional and natural although it is harder to make. Some birds like the house martin and swallow nest in an artificial cup shaped nest fixed under the eaves.
Nest boxes should only be placed where they cannot be accessed by predators especially cats. Cats seem to hone in on the frequent activity around the nest box at breeding times especially as the chicks get older when their calls become audible. A box which can be readily viewed from the house will therefore provide you pleasure and the birds increased safety.
Some birds like the house sparrows can't resist using nest boxes. Whether a bird will choose a nest box will of course depend on the species, that the size and siting of the box is correct, that it is in a safe location and there is an adequate source of food and water in the garden.
Birds become very sensitive during the breeding season and you should resist any curiosity to look in the box at the chicks, since disturbance may cause the adult birds to abandon the nest. This is a good reason to build your nest box so you can't look inside.
After fledging the nest box should be thoroughly cleaned out since it will be teeming with tiny parasites - boiling water will normally do the trick.
Another reason to put up a nest box is that after breeding takes place, they are often used during the night as a place of shelter and warmth.
Ban catapults
With the decline in several species of birds, conservationists and bird lovers have called for a ban on catapults - and Dilawar, who is a leading researcher on house sparrows, has decided to launch a nationwide campaign.
"We all love birds and mother nature but now as we all know it is under attack from all quarters. For the past one year I have trying to convince people to work on a ban on the use of catapults. I have surveyed the wholesale markets of Mumbai where hundreds of thousands of catapults and the rubber pipe used in it is sold," Dilawar said.
Give them water
With the population of house sparrows declining for multiple reasons, India’s leading expert on sparrows Dilawar requested people to provide water to them in a little way.
Dilawar has launched a website – www.natureforever.org – and has also recently had launched an SMS campaign requesting people to help the birds in general and sparrows in particular. He requested people to provide water to them by keeping it in containers in windows and terraces.
Dilawar’s simple SMS reads – “many birds die in summer without water, try 2 save them, please put water pots 4 thirsty birds in balcony n windows and gardens” .
People have started doing it. The response has been tremendous….. with a little but we could save so many birds.
Did you know ?
* The most widespread commonly seen wild bird in the world is probably the house sparrow (Passer domesticus), which has been transported all over the world by European settlers and can now be found on 2/3 of the land masses of the world including New Zealand, Australia, North America, India and Europe.
* House sparrows reportedly lived and bred in the Frickley Colliery Yorkshire, England coalmine shaft 640 m (2100 feet) below ground level, where two, and later three birds were fed by the miners and lived for three years. (In November 1977, a pair nested in the mine and raised three, which did not survive).
* The house sparrow can swim when it needs to for survival. They have even been observed swimming underwater when threatened.
* While the longevity record for a house sparrow is over 13 years, the survival rate of the bird while young is less than 25 per cent. Over 40 per cent of all adult house sparrows die every year.
The number of sparrows is dwindling. And that too very fast. Though the issue may not strike us in one go, the decline in the number of sparrows is really a matter of concern. But one thing that is for sure is that as fellow citizens we can do out bit to save this bird. For Mumbai, our own city, the issue is more important.
"House sparrows (Passer domesticus) are the indicator of the environment and they are facing a serious threat. We need to generate funds for extensive research," says Dilawar Mohammed, adding that he would be visiting several places across the country to generate more data on sparrows and their decline.
Dilawar has been associated with the Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) and have recently launched a website – www.natureforever.org – to save sparrows.
He said that the situation is "serious" as house sparrows are indicators of the environment and the decline shows that. Many reasons have been attributed to the decline of sparrows – like increasing use of pesticides, lack of insect food, lack of nesting places and electro-magnetic waves from towers.
Dilawar has also posted details on net ( http://dilawarmohammed.googlepages.com) - where many interesting facts about sparrows could be accessed.
Dilawar, who is a Project Manager for IBA-IUCN, pointed out: "When we were young we use to see women from the houses use to clean the grains, wheat rice and so on. At the same time, when they were sitting, sparrows use to come for the leftovers. But today we get everything packed – from retail shops and malls." He said that that the House Sparrows are declining gives signal that "there is something wrong in the environment".
"House Sparrows may not be critically endangered now, but in future it may happen. What happened to the vultures. In just 10 years they are facing extinction," Dilawar points out.
However, there is some good news. “The centre has sanctioned a three-year project to investigate the causes leading to the decline of the house sparrow in urban areas of India,” an excited Dilawar said.
Among the TIME's Heroes of Environment-2008, the Nashik-based naturalist pointed out that the decline in the house sparrow population in the United Kingdom and Western Europe has been widely recognized and taken very seriously.
The common house sparrows are nature’s bio-indicators and enjoy a
historical relationship with humans and have followed his colonization of
earth.
Nest boxes and feeders
Dilawar has now has started making next boxes and feeders in his hometown and is supplying to the purchasers on a no profit-no loss basis. "It is a simple device," he said, and pointed out that there is an urgent need for funds for undertaking study of sparrows, whom he refers to as "friends of the mankind".
Talking about nestboxes, he said, bird species can benefit greatly from nest boxes. Of the smaller species, it is normally birds that nest in holes or crevices that will use nest boxes to breed in. The most common being the house sparrow .
However other smaller birds will happily use an open fronted nest box to breed in. These include, robin, maynas, magpie robin. Some of these are quite common garden birds and providing they are placed correctly, nest boxes can provide a wonderful opportunity to witness first hand the beauty of nature.
There are two main types of nest boxes, the conventional nest box made from straight planks of timber in a box shape with a circular entrance hole and the natural nest box made from a hollowed out tree trunk. The difference being that the natural nest box looks very professional and natural although it is harder to make. Some birds like the house martin and swallow nest in an artificial cup shaped nest fixed under the eaves.
Nest boxes should only be placed where they cannot be accessed by predators especially cats. Cats seem to hone in on the frequent activity around the nest box at breeding times especially as the chicks get older when their calls become audible. A box which can be readily viewed from the house will therefore provide you pleasure and the birds increased safety.
Some birds like the house sparrows can't resist using nest boxes. Whether a bird will choose a nest box will of course depend on the species, that the size and siting of the box is correct, that it is in a safe location and there is an adequate source of food and water in the garden.
Birds become very sensitive during the breeding season and you should resist any curiosity to look in the box at the chicks, since disturbance may cause the adult birds to abandon the nest. This is a good reason to build your nest box so you can't look inside.
After fledging the nest box should be thoroughly cleaned out since it will be teeming with tiny parasites - boiling water will normally do the trick.
Another reason to put up a nest box is that after breeding takes place, they are often used during the night as a place of shelter and warmth.
Ban catapults
With the decline in several species of birds, conservationists and bird lovers have called for a ban on catapults - and Dilawar, who is a leading researcher on house sparrows, has decided to launch a nationwide campaign.
"We all love birds and mother nature but now as we all know it is under attack from all quarters. For the past one year I have trying to convince people to work on a ban on the use of catapults. I have surveyed the wholesale markets of Mumbai where hundreds of thousands of catapults and the rubber pipe used in it is sold," Dilawar said.
Give them water
With the population of house sparrows declining for multiple reasons, India’s leading expert on sparrows Dilawar requested people to provide water to them in a little way.
Dilawar has launched a website – www.natureforever.org – and has also recently had launched an SMS campaign requesting people to help the birds in general and sparrows in particular. He requested people to provide water to them by keeping it in containers in windows and terraces.
Dilawar’s simple SMS reads – “many birds die in summer without water, try 2 save them, please put water pots 4 thirsty birds in balcony n windows and gardens” .
People have started doing it. The response has been tremendous….. with a little but we could save so many birds.
Did you know ?
* The most widespread commonly seen wild bird in the world is probably the house sparrow (Passer domesticus), which has been transported all over the world by European settlers and can now be found on 2/3 of the land masses of the world including New Zealand, Australia, North America, India and Europe.
* House sparrows reportedly lived and bred in the Frickley Colliery Yorkshire, England coalmine shaft 640 m (2100 feet) below ground level, where two, and later three birds were fed by the miners and lived for three years. (In November 1977, a pair nested in the mine and raised three, which did not survive).
* The house sparrow can swim when it needs to for survival. They have even been observed swimming underwater when threatened.
* While the longevity record for a house sparrow is over 13 years, the survival rate of the bird while young is less than 25 per cent. Over 40 per cent of all adult house sparrows die every year.
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Tuesday, November 18, 2008
encounter specialists
September 3, 2008
ENCOUNTER COPS
From: MRITYUNJAY BOSE
Last Sunday when at the stroke of 1 am, when Pradeep Sharma heard the knock at the door of his flat, he had no idea what was coming. When he opened the door, he was shocked – he found that he has been dismissed from the Mumbai Police, which he served for more than 25 years. The reason – links with underworld.
Like Sharma – several of his trigger-happy colleagues and contemporaries are booked in some or the other cases or totally sidelines within the force barring a few. During their heydays, these "encounter specialists" together killed more than 700 criminals of different gangs - now-a-days, they just kill time.
They were the poster-boys of Mumbai Police and performed the role of "Dirty Harry", came to be eulogized as "encounter specialists" or "encounter cops" and earned sobriquets like "super cops" – but today if one rewinds to the period of late nineties and compare with the present – the larger-than-life cops are history. Also the rivalry among these group of elite officers and men had come to the fore.
The journey of these daredevil men from hall-of-fame to hall-of-shame has been interesting and in itself is a good Bollywood plot. But the fact remains – the tribe called "encounter specialists" is more or less extinct.
"During my career I have killed 112 criminals, this is the reward that I got," says Sharma, expressing his anguish over being summarily dismissed under Article 311 of the Constitution. In this case Sharma's own intelligence network failed as he never new what was coming – as a matter of fact the file on his dismissal moved from the desk of a dozen IPS officers before Mumbai police chief Hasan Gafoor finally moved it to Director General of Police A N Roy, who inked his dismissal from the force.
Cut to late nineties, these cops used to flaunt costliest cell phones, deadly Smith and Wessons or Colts besides SLRs, and bumped off several criminals and terrorists – in what is known as "encounters" – but later changed to "police operation" and again back as "encounters". Not only in Mumbai or India, international media has portrayed some of these officers. Sharma, who was in a way the king of encounter specialists, was featured in Time magazine.
Like Inspector Sharma – the entire band of encounter specialists with an exception to Vijay Salaskar and Vinayak Savade – others are booked, sacked or sidelined. So as was their early rise and the immediate downfall. Since 2004, the trouble for these officers and men started – when an accused in the Ghatkopar bomb blast, Khwaja Yunus escaped from police custody – later presumed dead in custody – and one after the other found themselves on the other side of law.
During this period, Sub-Inspector Daya Nayak, who was protégé of Sharma, fell out with him - and also emanated reports of rivalry among Sharma and Salaskar, who currently heads the Anti-Extortion Cell of the Crime Branch. In fact, Sharma, Salaskar and Praful Bhosale, who headed a Crime Branch are of the 1983 batch.
Bhosale, the specialist, was arrested in connection with the disappearance of Khwaja Yunus. One of Sharma's juniors Sachin Waze, who had good knowledge of detecting high-tech frauds, also found suspended and arrested in the same case, but later he resigned from police. Their colleague Arun Borude secured anticipatory bail and is currently out of Mumbai.
Inspector Aslam Momin too was sacked by the police for his links with the underworld. Ravindra Angre, another officer, but from Thane found himself involved in an extortion case and arrested. Daya Nayak himself was accused of having assets disproportionate to sources of income. There are reports that Nayak built a school in his native at Karnataka and a Bollywood superstar reportedly inaugurated that a few years ago.
The juniors of these middle-rung officers and their Man Fridays are now scattered – and often avoid media, though during their regime when they cracked the backbone of the underworld from Mumbai – they used to send SMS to journalists of their achievements. Some of the encounter specialists were also closed to Bollywood personalities.
The seniors too also suffered – deputy commissioner of police (detection) Pradip Sawant, who was later sent to the Special Branch, was arrested in the infamous fake stamp paper scandal masterminded by Abdul Karim Telgi. Former police chief R S Sharma, who had served as joint commissioner of police (crime) earlier, too was arrested in the same scandal. Both has been discharged by a Pune special court.
Most of them are decorated with President's Medal or Director General of Police's commendation. They had an excellent intelligence-gathering network and are known for solving complex of crimes in few hours time.
These men combined together has created a dent in all the gangs – be it of Dawood Ibrahim, his brother Anees Ibrahim and Chhota Shakeel on one side or people like Chhota Rajan, Amar Naik or Ashwin Naik or for that matter Arun Gawli. "Definitely they have played a role in crippling the underworld, but they assumed larger than life image and in fact started dictating to senior officers. The friction between them also affected the functioning, but time decides," a senior officer said wishing anonymity. "The snuffed out the bad guys and now they are being snuffed out," he said.
What is to be noted is that these encounter cops in the process of liquidating gangsters also came close to rival gangs – and the killing continued. Sometimes the encounters were also referred to as extra-judicial killings – and there are instances when there were strictures from courts and human rights commissions. "When the department needed them they were used, but now they are sidelined, as their requirement is not that much," a middle-level police officer said. "However, their fate is like that – early rise to fame, enjoying power, commanding strength, but an early fall," points out a senior officer, pointing out that these encounter specialists also started interfering in transfers of senior officials.
SOME FILMS ON GANGWARS AND ENCOUNTER COPS
Satya
Company
Vaastav
Shootout at Lokhandawala
Aan – Men at Work
Aab Tak Chhapan
Encounter: The Killing
Risk
Kagaar
ENCOUNTER COPS
From: MRITYUNJAY BOSE
Last Sunday when at the stroke of 1 am, when Pradeep Sharma heard the knock at the door of his flat, he had no idea what was coming. When he opened the door, he was shocked – he found that he has been dismissed from the Mumbai Police, which he served for more than 25 years. The reason – links with underworld.
Like Sharma – several of his trigger-happy colleagues and contemporaries are booked in some or the other cases or totally sidelines within the force barring a few. During their heydays, these "encounter specialists" together killed more than 700 criminals of different gangs - now-a-days, they just kill time.
They were the poster-boys of Mumbai Police and performed the role of "Dirty Harry", came to be eulogized as "encounter specialists" or "encounter cops" and earned sobriquets like "super cops" – but today if one rewinds to the period of late nineties and compare with the present – the larger-than-life cops are history. Also the rivalry among these group of elite officers and men had come to the fore.
The journey of these daredevil men from hall-of-fame to hall-of-shame has been interesting and in itself is a good Bollywood plot. But the fact remains – the tribe called "encounter specialists" is more or less extinct.
"During my career I have killed 112 criminals, this is the reward that I got," says Sharma, expressing his anguish over being summarily dismissed under Article 311 of the Constitution. In this case Sharma's own intelligence network failed as he never new what was coming – as a matter of fact the file on his dismissal moved from the desk of a dozen IPS officers before Mumbai police chief Hasan Gafoor finally moved it to Director General of Police A N Roy, who inked his dismissal from the force.
Cut to late nineties, these cops used to flaunt costliest cell phones, deadly Smith and Wessons or Colts besides SLRs, and bumped off several criminals and terrorists – in what is known as "encounters" – but later changed to "police operation" and again back as "encounters". Not only in Mumbai or India, international media has portrayed some of these officers. Sharma, who was in a way the king of encounter specialists, was featured in Time magazine.
Like Inspector Sharma – the entire band of encounter specialists with an exception to Vijay Salaskar and Vinayak Savade – others are booked, sacked or sidelined. So as was their early rise and the immediate downfall. Since 2004, the trouble for these officers and men started – when an accused in the Ghatkopar bomb blast, Khwaja Yunus escaped from police custody – later presumed dead in custody – and one after the other found themselves on the other side of law.
During this period, Sub-Inspector Daya Nayak, who was protégé of Sharma, fell out with him - and also emanated reports of rivalry among Sharma and Salaskar, who currently heads the Anti-Extortion Cell of the Crime Branch. In fact, Sharma, Salaskar and Praful Bhosale, who headed a Crime Branch are of the 1983 batch.
Bhosale, the specialist, was arrested in connection with the disappearance of Khwaja Yunus. One of Sharma's juniors Sachin Waze, who had good knowledge of detecting high-tech frauds, also found suspended and arrested in the same case, but later he resigned from police. Their colleague Arun Borude secured anticipatory bail and is currently out of Mumbai.
Inspector Aslam Momin too was sacked by the police for his links with the underworld. Ravindra Angre, another officer, but from Thane found himself involved in an extortion case and arrested. Daya Nayak himself was accused of having assets disproportionate to sources of income. There are reports that Nayak built a school in his native at Karnataka and a Bollywood superstar reportedly inaugurated that a few years ago.
The juniors of these middle-rung officers and their Man Fridays are now scattered – and often avoid media, though during their regime when they cracked the backbone of the underworld from Mumbai – they used to send SMS to journalists of their achievements. Some of the encounter specialists were also closed to Bollywood personalities.
The seniors too also suffered – deputy commissioner of police (detection) Pradip Sawant, who was later sent to the Special Branch, was arrested in the infamous fake stamp paper scandal masterminded by Abdul Karim Telgi. Former police chief R S Sharma, who had served as joint commissioner of police (crime) earlier, too was arrested in the same scandal. Both has been discharged by a Pune special court.
Most of them are decorated with President's Medal or Director General of Police's commendation. They had an excellent intelligence-gathering network and are known for solving complex of crimes in few hours time.
These men combined together has created a dent in all the gangs – be it of Dawood Ibrahim, his brother Anees Ibrahim and Chhota Shakeel on one side or people like Chhota Rajan, Amar Naik or Ashwin Naik or for that matter Arun Gawli. "Definitely they have played a role in crippling the underworld, but they assumed larger than life image and in fact started dictating to senior officers. The friction between them also affected the functioning, but time decides," a senior officer said wishing anonymity. "The snuffed out the bad guys and now they are being snuffed out," he said.
What is to be noted is that these encounter cops in the process of liquidating gangsters also came close to rival gangs – and the killing continued. Sometimes the encounters were also referred to as extra-judicial killings – and there are instances when there were strictures from courts and human rights commissions. "When the department needed them they were used, but now they are sidelined, as their requirement is not that much," a middle-level police officer said. "However, their fate is like that – early rise to fame, enjoying power, commanding strength, but an early fall," points out a senior officer, pointing out that these encounter specialists also started interfering in transfers of senior officials.
SOME FILMS ON GANGWARS AND ENCOUNTER COPS
Satya
Company
Vaastav
Shootout at Lokhandawala
Aan – Men at Work
Aab Tak Chhapan
Encounter: The Killing
Risk
Kagaar
response time
September 1, 2008From: Mrityunjay Bose
MUMBAI POLICE
Marked improvement in response timeReaches crime spot in seven minutes; inching towards the international standard
Mumbai: In a major achievement for Mumbai police - which is ranked next only to Scotland Yard in crime detection, the city cops have improved the response time to nearly seven minutes - inching towards the international standard of five minutes."The response time is a major factor in policing. In Hindi films we often see the police arriving once everything is over," joint commissioner of police (law and order) K L Prasad said. "We need to reach the scene fast, though in some real cases, it may not happen," he added.Prasad said that as far as the best was concerned - in Mumbai in some cases it is two to three minutes, while the maximum was 12 to 13 minutes. "On an average, the response time that we currently have is six-and-a-half-minutes to seven minutes," he said, pointing out that international standard was nearly five minutes.He said that with an increase in manpower and vehicles, this performance can be further enhanced. "Today every beat has a jeep and a bike with GPS facility and it is linked to the main control room," he said. Within seconds of reporting of an incident, the control room located at the Crawford Market police headquarters - the nearest vehicle can be located and directed to reach the spot. The Mumbai police have over 80 plus police station and several specialised units besides the Crime Branch and have a strength of nearly 40,000 officers and men.
MUMBAI POLICE
Marked improvement in response timeReaches crime spot in seven minutes; inching towards the international standard
Mumbai: In a major achievement for Mumbai police - which is ranked next only to Scotland Yard in crime detection, the city cops have improved the response time to nearly seven minutes - inching towards the international standard of five minutes."The response time is a major factor in policing. In Hindi films we often see the police arriving once everything is over," joint commissioner of police (law and order) K L Prasad said. "We need to reach the scene fast, though in some real cases, it may not happen," he added.Prasad said that as far as the best was concerned - in Mumbai in some cases it is two to three minutes, while the maximum was 12 to 13 minutes. "On an average, the response time that we currently have is six-and-a-half-minutes to seven minutes," he said, pointing out that international standard was nearly five minutes.He said that with an increase in manpower and vehicles, this performance can be further enhanced. "Today every beat has a jeep and a bike with GPS facility and it is linked to the main control room," he said. Within seconds of reporting of an incident, the control room located at the Crawford Market police headquarters - the nearest vehicle can be located and directed to reach the spot. The Mumbai police have over 80 plus police station and several specialised units besides the Crime Branch and have a strength of nearly 40,000 officers and men.
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