Let’s learn from Connaught Place shootout, say top cops

NEW DELHI: It is time for self-introspection in Delhi Police after a court gave life terms to 10 policemen for killing two innocent businessmen in the capital in 1997. The police brass say it is time to draw lessons from past misadventures.

“Police officials can draw two straight lessons from the shootout case. First is to admit their mistake and second is to take written permission from their seniors before carrying out any such operations,” said Kiran Bedi, director general of the Bureau of Police Research and Development.

Then commissioner of Delhi Police Nikhil Kumar was shifted out after the incident. Kumar, now a Congress member of the Lok Sabha, had described the killings as “a genuine case of mistaken identity”.

Former Uttar Pradesh director general Prakash Singh said that illegally covering up the case was the major mistake. He also said, “The junior cops were merely carrying out their superiors’ directions. They had killed two innocent people, so they must get punishment, but it was a case of bona fide mistake and they could have been awarded lower punishment,” Singh said.

However, Bedi refused to see the junior cops of Rathi’s team as any less guilty. She said if the juniors were not sure about the identity of the people in the car, they could have backed out and refused to execute their seniors’ orders.