There’s been a huge public outcry following the arrest of three IPS officers for the alleged abduction and murder of Sohrabuddin and Kausarbi, and the attempt to pass it off as a police encounter. Subsequent revelations have been widely reported. This murky episode provides yet another instanc e of the systemic distortions in the functioning of the Indian police forces.

The scope of public debate has been widened enough for fingers to be pointed at all police and paramilitary actions involving the use of deadly force. All of a sudden it seems, if the media is to be believed, that we live in a country of lawless, khaki and olive green-clad, gun-toting Rambos who are out to hunt innocent citizens for private gain or perverse pleasure.

This is unfortunate. For an officer working in the field, the terms of reference of the public debate surrounding this episode betray a profound ignorance or, at best, over-simplification of police work in general, especially of the legal, political and cultural milieu in which the police and all other security forces deployed on internal security duties operate. What is of deep concern to all conscientious police officers is that the prevailing mindset underplays the very real danger to the officers and their kith and kin, especially to those who are involved in the fight against everyday crime, organised or otherwise, and terrorist activities.

Contrary to our image of a peace-loving civilisation, the metros and moffussil India are straight out of The Heart of Darkness. To suggest that as cops we intentionally go out looking for people to kill obscures the grim reality that much of the work of men in khaki is not just a licence to kill but an invitation to be killed as well.

... contd.