The Hindu : New Delhi News : ``Delay in reporting Geelani incident made task tough for police"

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Feb 11, 2005

New Delhi

New Delhi

``Delay in reporting Geelani incident made task tough for police"

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, FEB. 10. Over half an hour's delay in reporting the assault on Syed Abdul Rahman Geelani at Vasant Enclave on Tuesday night to the police is learnt to have made their task of identifying and tracing the assailants more difficult. With Mr. Geelani not in a position to make a statement, the Crime Branch of the Delhi police has decided to probe all the angles for the time being.

While the incident is learnt to have taken place around 9 p.m., the police at the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences came to know about it only through the hospital authorities after 9.30 p.m. Before that, Mr. Geelani's lawyer, Nandita Haksar, and her husband, rushed him to hospital, but no one reportedly called up the Police Control Room (PCR).

"The message about the attack was not conveyed to the PCR. So it could not be immediately disseminated among the districts police. Consequently, most of us came to know about the incident through media reports," said a police officer, adding that had the information been passed to the police immediately, all roads leading to the scene of occurrence could have been cordoned off to carry out a search for the suspects.

For her part, Ms. Haksar said the priority then was to save Mr. Geelani's life.

Investigations have revealed that Mr. Geelani was shot at when he parked his Maruti car inside the Vasant Enclave complex and was on his way to Ms. Haksar's house to discuss his case pending with the Supreme Court. The area residents heard the gunshots, but claimed they did not see anything.

The Crime Branch has formed several teams to probe all the angles.

The manner in which Mr. Geelani was shot at suggests that a sophisticated/automatic pistol was used by the assailant who confronted him and shot at him while he was walking towards Ms. Haksar's residence.

Meanwhile, Ms. Haksar today said that on several occasions, Mr. Geelani had publicly voiced his concerns about his safety. "He also told me that attempts were made on his life while he was in jail. A few months ago, he was heckled on the Jawaharlal Nehru University campus where he had gone to deliver a lecture. But he delivered the lecture despite the threats. He had also apprised the court about it," Ms. Haksar added.

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