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Tamil Nadu

A problem that police encounter nowadays Law & order

Encounters would become unwarranted if activities of anti-social elements are brought to an end in the beginning itself, says S. Annamalai

On Thursday, Boopathy, mother of Manalmedu Shankar, who was killed in 2007 in an encounter in Pudukottai district, narrated in a public hearing before a jury of eminent persons in the city how her son fell a victim even after the Supreme Court, while dismissing her writ petition, had assured that the agency concerned would ensure his safety.

The same day, the Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court directed the Tirunelveli police to extend the remand of two brothers through video conferencing. The order was on a writ petition, moved by the wife of one of the two, seeking protection for them from a “fake encounter.”

One of the meanings of ‘encounter,’ according to the Oxford English Dictionary, is “a confrontation or unpleasant struggle.”

It has assumed new connotations in contemporary policing.

Is ‘encounter’ an effective means to maintain law and order?

While human rights activists are opposed to encounter per se police officials are firmly for it.

But the view of a former police officer who has served in several capacities all over the State is this: “Encounter can be considered necessary if it is real and conforms to its definition. But law and order can be maintained without encounters.”

To amplify his statement, he refers to police records of the past that do not contain the term.

The police should use their weapons only when lives are threatened, he adds. Another officer is of the opinion that the best way to contain rowdyism is to nip it in the bud.

Encounters would become unwarranted if activities of anti-social elements are brought to an end in the beginning itself.

But they become necessary when these elements that enjoy police and political patronage emerge as Frankensteins.

Who is to decide who is a Frankenstein?

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