'We are instruments of death'

Encounter specialists (Sharma: 92 killed; Nayak: 78 killed) visit Afternoon House 'We have no feelings when we shoot criminals dead. We are instruments that bring death. Life and death is in God's hands. We accept these operations as part of our work. We always go to make arrests. We have arrested about 250, 300 criminals, charged so many, at least 11 have been convicted for life. But we are mentally prepared to kill. To finish them. Often we get attacked, too. We have families and responsibilities. But this is duty. What do we feel? It is like winning a World Cup cricket match!'

By Mark Manuel

PRADEEP Sharma and Daya Nayak are Bombay's most feared policemen. Last week, they were in the news and on television for gunning down three Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorists allegedly responsible for the recent spate of bomb blasts in the city. That encounter, or operation - as the police call these shootouts, took their respective scorecards of criminals killed in action a notch higher. Senior Inspector Sharma has killed 92 so far and Sub-Inspector Nayak 78. I find that incredible. Even A. A. Khan, who is the original Dirty Harry of the Bombay Police, did not come anywhere close to these figures during his action-filled innings with the force. And with terrorists replacing gangsters in 21st century Bombay, I imagine that Sharma and Nayak will be engaged in even more operations in days to come. It is both, a scary and reassuring thought. Scary because Bombay is threatening to become like Srinagar. And reassuring because policemen like Sharma and Nayak will not let that happen.

Tuesday afternoon, Sharma and Nayak drove into town from their Andheri Crime Branch office to see me. They are attached to the Criminal Intelligence Unit located just outside the Andheri Railway Station. Other policemen might have taken the train. They came by jeep. Like the Lone Ranger and Tonto, they strode into my office, two constables carrying AK-47s positioning themselves at my door. Sitting down, they drew the revolvers tucked into their waistbands and laid them on my table, Sharma turning his chair so that he faced the door at all time. I must say I have not seen such tough, fit-looking and alert policemen before. These are not your pot-bellied examples of the classic Bombay policeman. These are lean, mean, killing machines. Later, I discovered that Sharma and Nayak spend at least two hours a day exercising and keeping fit. "We play squash, we swim, we lift weights and run, that way our reflexes are always sharp. In a hostile situation with criminals, it is important to get off the draw first," said Sharma, surprising me greatly.

Naturally, the talk started with last week's encounter. "Instead of the encounter, why did you not try to arrest the Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorists," I asked. "Operation," Sharma corrected me gently, "not encounter. We went to arrest them, we had been on their trail for about two-and-half months, the entire Crime Branch was involved. Not just my team. But these terrorists were deadly. They kept changing hideouts, their names, always staying in rented apartments, moving overnight, even going as far as changing the number-plates of their car. When we finally moved in, it was to make the arrest and also catch their local contact. But it ended in a shootout. With our gangsters it is different. We know what their capacity is. But terrorists are dangerous. They used AK-47s on us. We retaliated with AK-47s."

I tried to imagine the scene on the Western Express Highway where this operation took place at 11.30 one morning last week. "What about motorists, bystanders on the highway, what were their reactions like," I asked, curiously. "The vehicles, the people, they stopped in their tracks. They must have been shell-shocked. After all, how many people have witnessed a shooting before? But though the firing was random, we took care to see that nobody came in the crossfire," explained Nayak. "And didn't you fear getting killed yourselves," I asked. "There was no time to think. It was them or us," Nayak replied. Sharma added, "Besides which, when you first wear khaki, all your fear leaves you." I asked the question uppermost in my mind. "And what do you feel when you are killing a man?" I caught a quick look they exchanged, and I don't think they liked that question, but I wanted an answer.

"See, these terrorists are fidayeen, they have killed before and will kill again," Nayak started to say. "Likewise gangsters, they are the scum of society. Men like Dawood Ibrahim and Chhota Shakeel are absolute rats. In person, you would be able to knock them over with a slap! They themselves have never pulled the trigger. I doubt they know how to even handle a gun. All their work is done by 18 and 20-year-old boys. They have made killers of these boys. We have no feelings when we shoot them dead. We are instruments that bring death. Life and death is in God's hands. We accept these operations as part of our work. We always go to make arrests. We have arrested about 250, 300 criminals, charged so many, at least 11 have been convicted for life. But we are happy with whatever the outcome of the operation. We are of course mentally prepared to kill. To finish them. Often we get attacked, too. We have families and responsibilities. But this is duty." I persisted, "But what do you feel?" And Nayak answered, "It is like winning a World Cup cricket match!"

But this is not to suggest that Sharma and Nayak are only encounter specialists. They do regular police work too. Nakabandi, VIP security, bandobast, detection and prevention of crime, interrogation of criminals, the law and order beat. And people call up with requests for all kinds of personal favours. "Anything from helping somebody who has eloped to get married to getting back a car that has been towed away by the Traffic Police," said Sharma with a laugh. Both policemen believe that Bombay's is the best police force in the world. "The No. 1," said Sharma firmly. "Forget Scotland Yard, in Scotland, there is hardly any population. The people themselves act as the police. Look at the size of our population, see how small the police force is, yet, I think we are doing a terrific job. We need a policeman to monitor a bus queue in Bombay! Abroad, they don't even have conductors on buses. They trust people to buy tickets from a vending machine. Here, our passengers try to rob the conductor!"

I got a lowdown on their Criminal Intelligence Unit. Its primary job is to collect information on criminals and pass it on to superiors in the Crime Branch. They work no regular hours. Most of their work is done on the phone. Informers are reluctant to visit the police station personally. Why be marked? Sharma and Nayak have a fine network of informers. They treat these informers as friends, reward them handsomely from their "secret fund", the government has even paid upto Rs. 4 lakh for information at times. "Anybody can be an informer," explained Sharma. "It could be you. You see or hear something suspicious, instead of dialing 100, you call us. That's how the network spreads. We can come anywhere. The police has no jurisdiction. Just as crime has no jurisdiction. It can take place anywhere. The whole city is our jurisdiction. And with crime in Bombay shifting from gangsterism to terrorism, we are ready for action all the time, AK-47s and bullet-proof vests. This is a modern force. People think we still operate with those outdated 303 rifles."

"How important is it in your line of work to have superiors who think like you," I asked. For, of what use would daredevil shooters like Sharma and Nayak be if their superiors were passive officers who stuck to the straight and narrow path of the law. "It is very important to have dynamic officers," said Nayak. "Our effort gets boosted, we get encouraged, when we know that the superiors understand our problems and support our work. Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Dr. Satyapal Singh, Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime) Rakesh Maria, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Pradeep Sawant, these are all very practical men, they know what to do with a team like ours. In fact, DCP Sawant has been personally involved in some of our operations as well. For last week's operation, he supervised the trap we laid for the terrorists. Dr. Singh has done a Ph.D on Naxalite criminal activities. He has seen such action in Gadchiroli and Nagpur."

"And what are your personal reputations like," I asked. "On the police force or in the underworld," Nayak asked quickly. "Both," I replied. Sharma answered this time, "We are envied and respected on the police force, but then everybody is a friend, there is no question of rivalry even among the shooters. As for the gangsters, our pictures, taken out of newspapers and magazines, are circulated among them and put up in the prisons. Newcomers are told, 'You see these two policemen, just run!' We are certain that even the big dons know of us." "And what about your families," I asked. Both policemen are married and have children. The wives, of course, know of their husbands' fearful reputations. And they are supportive of their work. The children are too small to be proud of their fathers. The neighbours are aware who these policemen are. For both, Sharma and Nayak have 24 hours' security around them. And they sleep with guns under their pillows. Not just Bombay's underworld, but now also Pakistan's terrorists would like to see them out of the way.

But that is not going to happen. In fact, I predict the opposite. Pradeep Sharma and Daya Nayak will go after all criminals who are causing destruction and spreading terror in Bombay with a vengeance. Never mind what it's like in the rest of the country, in Delhi and Bihar and Srinagar. If a terrorist dares to infiltrate Bombay, he will go home in a coffin. In fact, these policemen are confident that terrorists will not be able to set up base here. "The people are aware.

Terrorists come from J&K, from Afghanistan and Pakistan, and they would stand out by their physical descriptions. They would also need to establish local contacts. By the time they are doing all this, they would get caught. We would get information, our intelligence network is sharp, then we would get after them," explained Sharma. After that what, I was tempted to ask. But I already knew the answer. They got up to go, slipping their revolvers back into their waistbands. Like the Lone Ranger and Tonto, I thought again.

Sharma turning his chair so that he faced the door at all time. I must say I have not seen such tough, fit-looking and alert policemen before. These are not your pot-bellied examples of the classic Bombay policeman. These are lean, mean, killing machines. Later, I discovered that Sharma and Nayak spend at least two hours a day exercising and keeping fit. "We play squash, we swim, we lift weights and run, that way our reflexes are always sharp. In a hostile situation with criminals, it is important to get off the draw first," said Sharma, surprising me greatly.

Naturally, the talk started with last week's encounter. "Instead of the encounter, why did you not try to arrest the Lashkar-e-Toiba terrorists," I asked. "Operation," Sharma corrected me gently, "not encounter. We went to arrest them, we had been on their trail for about two-and-half months, the entire Crime Branch was involved. Not just my team. But these terrorists were deadly.

They kept changing hideouts, their names, always staying in rented apartments, moving overnight, even going as far as changing the number-plates of their car. When we finally moved in, it was to make the arrest and also catch their local contact. But it ended in a shootout. With our gangsters it is different. We know what their capacity is. But terrorists are dangerous. They used AK-47s on us. We retaliated with AK-47s."

I tried to imagine the scene on the Western Express Highway where this operation took place. "What about motorists, bystanders on the highway, what were their reactions like," I asked, curiously. "The vehicles, the people, they stopped in their tracks. They must have been shell-shocked. After all, how many people have witnessed a shooting before? But though the firing was random, we took care to see that nobody came in the crossfire," explained Nayak. "And didn't you fear getting killed yourselves," I asked. "There was no time to think. It was them or us," Nayak replied. Sharma added, "Besides which, when you first wear khaki, all your fear leaves you." I asked the question uppermost in my mind. "And what do you feel when you are killing a man?" I caught a quick look they exchanged, and I don't think they liked that question, but I wanted an answer.

"See, these terrorists are fidayeen, they have killed before and will kill again," Nayak started to say. "Likewise gangsters, they are the scum of society. Men like Dawood Ibrahim and Chhota Shakeel are absolute rats. In person, you would be able to knock them over with a slap! They themselves have never pulled the trigger. I doubt they know how to even handle a gun. All their work is done by 18 and 20-year-old boys. They have made killers of these boys. We have no feelings when we shoot them dead. We are instruments that bring death. Life and death is in God's hands. We accept these operations as part of our work. We always go to make arrests. We have arrested about 250, 300 criminals, charged so many, at least 11 have been convicted for life. But we are happy with whatever the outcome of the operation. We are of course mentally prepared to kill. To finish them. Often we get attacked, too. We have families and responsibilities. But this is duty." I persisted, "But what do you feel?" And Nayak answered, "It is like winning a World Cup cricket match!"

But this is not to suggest that Sharma and Nayak are only encounter specialists. They do regular police work too. Nakabandi, VIP security, bandobast, detection and prevention of crime, interrogation of criminals, the law and order beat. And people call up with requests for all kinds of personal favours. "Anything from helping somebody who has eloped to get married to getting back a car that has been towed away by the Traffic Police," said Sharma with a laugh.

Both policemen believe that Bombay's is the best police force in the world. "The No. 1," said Sharma firmly. "Forget Scotland Yard, in Scotland, there is hardly any population. The people themselves act as the police. Look at the size of our population, see how small the police force is, yet, I think we are doing a terrific job. We need a policeman to monitor a bus queue in Bombay! Abroad, they don't even have conductors on buses. They trust people to buy tickets from a vending machine. Here, our passengers try to rob the conductor!"

I got a lowdown on their Criminal Intelligence Unit. Its primary job is to collect information on criminals and pass it on to superiors in the Crime Branch. They work no regular hours. Most of their work is done on the phone. Informers are reluctant to visit the police station personally. Why be marked? Sharma and Nayak have a fine network of informers. They treat these informers as friends, reward them handsomely from their "secret fund", the government has even paid upto Rs. 4 lakh for information at times. "Anybody can be an informer," explained Sharma. "It could be you. You see or hear something suspicious, instead of dialing 100, you call us. That's how the network spreads. We can come anywhere. The police has no jurisdiction. Just as crime has no jurisdiction. It can take place anywhere. The whole city is our jurisdiction. And with crime in Bombay shifting from gangsterism to terrorism, we are ready for action all the time, AK-47s and bullet-proof vests. This is a modern force. People think we still operate with those outdated 303 rifles."

"How important is it in your line of work to have superiors who think like you," I asked. For, of what use would daredevil shooters like Sharma and Nayak be if their superiors were passive officers who stuck to the straight and narrow path of the law. "It is very important to have dynamic officers," said Nayak. "Our effort gets boosted, we get encouraged, when we know that the superiors understand our problems and support our work. Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Dr. Satyapal Singh, Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime) Rakesh Maria, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Pradeep Sawant, these are all very practical men, they know what to do with a team like ours. In fact, DCP Sawant has been personally involved in some of our operations as well. For last week's operation, he supervised the trap we laid for the terrorists. Dr. Singh has even done a Ph.D on Naxalite criminal activities."

"And what are your personal reputations like," I asked. "On the police force or in the underworld," Nayak asked quickly. "Both," I replied. Sharma answered this time, "We are envied and respected on the police force, but then everybody is a friend, there is no question of rivalry even among the shooters. As for the gangsters, our pictures, taken out of newspapers and magazines, are circulated among them and put up in the prisons. Newcomers are told, 'You see these two policemen, just run!' We are certain that even the big dons know of us." "And what about your families," I asked. Both policemen are married and have children. The wives, of course, know of their husbands' fearful reputations. And they are supportive of their work. The children are too small to be proud of their fathers. The neighbours are aware who these policemen are. For both, Sharma and Nayak have 24 hours' security around them. And they sleep with guns under their pillows. Not just Bombay's underworld, but now also Pakistan's terrorists would like to see them out of the way.

But that is not going to happen. In fact, I predict the opposite. Pradeep Sharma and Daya Nayak will go after all criminals who are causing destruction and spreading terror in Bombay with a vengeance. Never mind what it's like in the rest of the country, in Delhi and Bihar and Srinagar. If a terrorist dares to infiltrate Bombay, he will go home in a coffin. In fact, these policemen are confident that terrorists will not be able to set up base here. "The people are aware.

Terrorists come from J&K, from Afghanistan and Pakistan, and they would stand out by their physical descriptions. They would also need to establish local contacts. By the time they are doing all this, they would get caught. We would get information, our intelligence network is sharp, then we would get after them," explained Sharma. After that what, I was tempted to ask.

But I already knew the answer. They got up to go, slipping their revolvers back into their waistbands. Like the Lone Ranger and Tonto, I thought again.