M A I L B A G

Encounters: cops deserve no mercy

The fake encounter case has taken a new turn after the Gujarat government disclosed before the Supreme Court that armed men of the Anti-Terrorist Squad and Andhra Pradesh police were allegedly involved in the killings of Sohrabuddin Sheikh and his wife Kausar Bi.

It shows that these corrupt officials’ link is not confined to Gujarat alone. They have a huge network like criminals. It may be a small issue for some people, but it has the potential of exposing a large number of police officers involved in corruption. Therefore, the latest fake encounter case should be pursued vigorously to ferret out the truth. The apex court must nab all criminals in uniform and give them the toughest punishment to act as deterrent.

SHAILESH KUMAR, Bangalore

II

The editorial, “Murder in Modiland: Another face of the best administered state” (April 30) rightly points out that the encounter killings in Gujarat must be probed individually by an independent agency. Questions are being raised about the Centre’s responsibility and its failure to have acted earlier on its own.

Why did the Centre keep quiet until the Supreme Court’s intervention, to offer an enquiry by the neutral CBI? Could the Centre not have got involved by itself immediately after an encounter death had taken place? Why is it necessary for the victim’s brother to approach the court with a petition to make the Centre act?

LINGAYAT KRISHNA RAJESH, Chennai

III

The arrest of three top IPS officers from Gujarat and the earlier arrest of Daya Nayak, an encounter specialist from Mumbai, bring to mind several past encounters involving innocent people.

It creates suspicion as they may have been carried out for vested interest or at the behest of politicians and criminals. In view of the shocking findings of the Geeta Johri report, the Centre should appoint a high-powered body to get the encounters probed.

We are equally concerned about Dr Hari Krishna, the eyewitness in the Ansal Plaza encounter? The security of the people and the nation is too important to be the preserve of an individual or a group.

RUBY NAUSHAD, New Delhi

IV

One cannot rule out political patronage behind the alleged killings of Sohrabuddin and his wife Kausar Bi by three IPS officers in Gujarat. But then, fake encounter deaths are not new phenomena nor are these confined to Gujarat. These have become commonplace in almost all states.

Over the years, politicians have become a law unto themselves. They have a pliable bureaucracy to carry out their unlawful dictates. In Bihar, Jharkhand, North-Eastern states and parts of Uttar Pradesh, the Station House Officer is a feudal lord and for him the politician is the boss.

The SHO can get anyone eliminated, get any property raged at the behest of the politician and yet he will ensure that no one files a complaint or be a witness to the gruesome crime.

BHARTENDU SOOD, Chandigarh

What ails our cricket stars Cricket is our most prestigious game. We are disturbed over India’s poor performance in the World Cup. Clearly, our players have failed to live up to our expectations. Our cricket players, especially Virinder Sehwag, Yuvraj Singh, Sachin Tendulkar and Saurav Ganguli, need some psychological treatment and crisis intervention programme because they are our big hope. Lean sessions at a stage of plateau of their performance won’t help. They need psychological intervention to help update their performance graph. A pep talk for motivation enhancement by the coach or the manager will not act as a morale booster, but the players need some mental exercises along with those of physical warm-up for mental relaxation and for overcoming their nervousness, anxiety and pressure. Our team needs the services of a very experienced sports psychologist. He should be attached to the team for a longer period to help overcome their psychological problems. Dr AGYAJIT SINGH, Sports psychologist, Patiala

Garbage disposal

Earlier, the PUDA staff used to lift the garbage from all the houses in the Urban Estate every day. Now this service is available only twice or thrice a week. Why?

Moreover, the collected garbage is dumped at the end of the streets. Heaps of garbage can be found near MGN Public School in Phase II. Is there no proper dumping ground for the disposal of the collected garbage? I request PUDA officials to make arrangements for proper disposal of garbage.

Dr JASBIR SINGH TALWAR, Jalandhar

Customer service

Mahatma Gandhi aptly said, “A customer is our valued guest”. Do our banks practise this in letter and spirit? The banking system has changed from manual to computer for speedy and better customer service. However, there is no much improvement in customer service, nor there is appreciable change in the outlook and behaviour of the banking staff.

The bank employees are so much obsessed with their machines that they do not bother about the customers standing in front of them. Even formal courtesy is lacking. What is this new culture?

D. R. SHARDA, Chandigarh