- Forwarded message ----------
From: Siddhartha Mitra <[email protected]>
Date: Sat, Dec 19, 2009 at 12:43 AM
Subject: [aid-cg] My conversation with Mr. Vishwaranjan, DGP Chhattisgarh,
yesterday
Now who is hiding, Mr. Vishwaranjan? The long wait. The pips. And then the
phone rang. He picked up the phone on the fourth ring. “Hello?” a
gruff voice inquired. It was a voice of authority. After all, Mr.
Vishwaranjan, the person I was calling, was the Director General of Police of
Chhattisgarh, the person at the top of the law enforcement institution in the
state. “Sir, my name is Siddhartha Mitra, and I am calling from New York.
I am a computer professional working here.” “Hem”. He cleared his voice.
And waited. Evidently we both knew where the call was going. So I dived into
the topic, without further ado. “Sir, I am calling regarding the arrest of
Kopa Kunjam”, I said. “We have been getting many calls regarding this. He
has been arrested on a six month old murder case. He was hiding in Himanshu
Kumar’s ashram, and when he came out during that
time, he was arrested”, the DGP placidly explained. No doubt this was
something he had prepared in advance, and must have repeated it several times
by now. However, there was a big catch to it. “But I know that is not
true. I myself was there in Dantewada two months ago, and I went with Kopa
Kunjam to Lingagiri. He came and went from the ashram as he pleased, and he was
very much out in the open. He was not hiding there.” There was a distinct
pause at the other end of the line. This was clearly an unexpected and
unwelcome counter. “Look, I do not know the exact details, the SP Bijapur
is handling this case”, he paused, desperately thinking of something else to
say. “At least, this is what Kopa has confessed. He said he was staying at the
Ashram”, he seemed to be trying to backtrack. No, Kopa was not hiding there,
but was staying there. And yes, I do not know all the details, so I
cannot answer all your questions. “I know that he was not staying at the
ashram at night, because I was there”, I persisted. His voice took a
soothing tone. He condescendingly explained, hoping to clear my ignorance -
“Kopa himself has said so. That is why we know he was staying at the ashram.
“ “But he might have said so because he was beaten” , I responded,
offering the reason why such allegations might have surfaced. Slander!
Calumny! There was a notable shock in his voice. “That is not how the Indian
police system works. Nobody is beaten. The arrested make their statements
before the magistrate. I am telling you what Kopa has himself has said during
his confession.” “There was witness to the fact that he was beaten. Mr.
Alban Toppo, the lawyer who was with him saw him getting beaten
up.” Click. And then a silence. We shall have to wait
another day to know why Mr.Toppo was making up this egregious lie. Perhaps the
blows with the cane that he had received himself before he witnessed Kopa’s
beating must have caused him to have hallucinations. Anyway, the
conversation had gone a lot longer than expected. After all, my call on the
same issue two days earlier to Amresh Mishra, the SP of Dantewada, had lasted
only a few seconds. Mr. Mishra, prior to disconnecting the line, had hurriedly
mentioned that this case was out of his region of control, and Kopa was in the
custody of the Bijapur police, and I should contact SP Bijapur. And of
course, the SP Bijapur was on “vacation”. At least Mr. Mishra had some
excuse. But the DGP is the overlord of the entire police force in the state. In
the end, it is his sole responsibility on how law is enforced in Chhattisgarh.
He has no SP Bijapur or vacation to excuse himself with. Now who is
hiding, Mr.
Vishwaranjan?
Adv Kamayani Bali Mahabal
Mobile-00919820749204
skype:lawyercumactivist
I carry a torch in one hand
And a bucket of water in the other:
With these things I am going to set fire to Heaven
And put out the flames of Hell
So that voyagers to God can rip the veils
And see the real goal........................................By Rabia (Rabi'a
Al-'Adawiyya)
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