Keystone cops

Delhi Police and Maharashtra ATS fight — same day, same city as the car bomb attack

As far as ironies go, this one is near perfect. Across town from where the Israeli Embassy car was attacked, the same day the Delhi Police and the Maharashtra's "elite" Anti-Terrorism Squad were very busy — going after each other. When the ATS went to Jamia Nagar to serve a summons on Mohammad Taqi Ahmed, brother of Naqi Ahmed, arrested by the ATS last month for his alleged involvement in the 13/7 Mumbai attacks, the capital's police force rushed in to stop them and reportedly took a couple of ATS officers to the local police station.

The reason is twofold. The Delhi Police claimed they were not informed by the ATS about the operation and, therefore, didn't take kindly to this apparent breach of protocol. Moreover, the Delhi Police also disagrees with the ATS on Naqi's role in the terror attacks, arguing the ATS suspect was actually a police informer helping them track the Indian Mujahideen's Yasin Bhatkal.

So how should we presume? Is Naqi an informer or a suspect — which perspective on him is correct? Why did Delhi's additional commissioner for the southeast, Ajay Chowdhury, say the ATS had informed their Delhi colleagues when another senior Delhi Police officer claimed to the contrary? Both police forces have serious business to deal with. Instead, they came to resemble the celebrated "thief catchers" from Keystone Kops — bungling their way through things, with a lot of running about and expense of spirit, but little coordination among members. That was fiction, this is reality.

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