As is expected in anything as dramatic as the Ansal Plaza shootout on Diwali eve, the details are gettingmurky, blurred and fuzzy.
The "Eyewitness" Account
It started with media reports where one Dr Hari Krishna claimed to have been present at the time of theshootout with two alleged Lashkar-e-Toiba militants at Ansal Plaza and was quoted as saying: "The two youngmen were unarmed and shot dead by the police."
The special cell of Delhi police had maintained that the militants were heavily armed — carrying AK-47sand pistols — and had planned to stage an Akshardham-type holdup by taking hostages. The two opened fire,the police version went, when questioned by a commando team waiting in plainclothes, and died in the ensuingexchange of fire.
Advertisement
Dr Hari Krishna, on the other hand, claimed that he was at the underground parking lot of the shoppingplaza when he saw two men — "barely able to walk" — stumble out of a Maruti car.
The duo appeared to have not slept for weeks or were under sedation, claimed Dr. Krishna. As they got outof the car, he went on, they were shot by the waiting plainclothes policemen. He claimed that on the night ofthe incident when he tried to narrate his version to journalists, he was hustled away by policemen.
After that Krishna was no longer available in his house at Greater Kailash in south Delhi and no oneresponded to phone calls. That was enough to set tongues wagging as the insinuated inference was that fearing policereprisal he had gone into hiding. If this was a "false encounter", went the refrain, didn't it castshadows on Akshardham and other recent cases where state-involvement was darkly whispered about, too?
Advertisement
It was then that Kuldip Nayyar and other social activists got involved and complained to the NHRC whichpromptly served a notice to Delhi Police demanding an exact police version and asking them to provide securityto Krishna. The commission also asked its director-general of investigations to keep in touch with thepolice so that no attempt was made to manipulate facts.
The New Twist
On Thursday, the drama took another turn with a man claiming to be Dr. Krishna, speaking from anundisclosed location to NDTV, claimed he was under no threat from the police.
"I am not going to comment on what I saw or did not see on Sunday. But I want to talk about what I haveheard being reported."
Denying reports that he apprehended danger to his life, he said "although security has been providedto me, I see no threat or harassment from Delhi Police. I see no danger to my life nor am I absconding."On his keeping away from the media for two days, he said he had gone to visit relatives on the occasion of 'BhaiDhuj'.
"I have a complaint against the NHRC. I don't need any security which has been demanded for me,"he said.
Meanwhile, the police have issued warnings that if Dr Krishna's testimony does not add up, they would dealwith him according to the law and also submitted a report, said to be partial, to the NHRC, the details ofwhich have not been made public. The NHRC has said that they will examine it carefully before taking anyfurther action.
Advertisement
Postmortem will hold the key
Delhi Police meanwhile has delayed the post-mortem of the two alleged terrorists saying it awaited a clearancefrom the External Affairs Ministry.
The Delhi Police had stated that the post-mortem would be conducted anytime after the lapse of 72 hours ofthe incident if there were no claimants to the bodies of the terrorists. Police claim that the terrorists werePakistani citizens - Dawood Ali and Ezaz Ahmed from Pakistan's Punjab province.
While the deadline passed last evening, Joint Commissioner of Police (Special Cell) Neeraj Kumar said onThursday that there was no "immediate plan" to conduct post-mortem and "a clearance from theExternal Affairs Ministry was awaited."
Advertisement
Police sources said the delay had been caused as some social activists had questioned the authenticity ofthe encounter on the basis of a doctor's statement who claims to be an eye-witness to the incident."Post-mortem is essential to prove our point," police sources said, adding it would answer allquestions raised by some people over the incident.
As the slain terrorists have been identified as Pakistani nationals, Delhi Police said it had informed theHome Ministry to take up the matter with External Affairs Ministry for handing over the bodies to Pakistan.
As per practice in cases of unclaimed bodies, police waits for 72 hours before conducting a post-mortem andsubsequently hands them over to Wakf Board for performance of the last rites.
Advertisement
Regarding delay on the autopsy, a Delhi Police official recounted that post-mortem on bodies of the fivePakistani terrorists killed while attempting to storm Parliament last December had been conducted 25 daysafter the incident.
Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister LK Advani who had directly blamed Pakistan for trying to organize a pre-Diwali shootout, refused to comment on the case, when queried at a police function in Bhiwani in Haryana,
