18 sept 2011
One week after a blast ripped through the Delhi High Court premises killing 17 people, sleuths from the National Investigation Agency (NIA) and the National Security Guard are yet to decide on the type of explosive used. Forensic laboratories in Delhi, Chandigarh and Hyderabad gave three different reports on the bomb component. The Union home ministry has now sent the reports to a fourth laboratory at Gandhinagar to 'reconcile' the findings.
Barely had the smoke cleared when the Delhi Police released sketches of suspects that were so laughably obscure that if taken seriously, could have led to the detention of large numbers of the city's adult male population. If that wasn't enough, a frenetic blame game began between the home minister and the Lt Governor, both of whom control the city police. P. Chidambaram insisted Lt Governor Tejendra Khanna had been warned of an impending attack. Khanna denied having received any warning. The NIA swung in and arrested four persons from Kishtwar, Jammu and Kashmir for sending a threatening email soon after the blast from a cybercafe. It turned out that they were schoolboys from a nearby higher secondary school. This was the scene in the capital, which got a shot in the arm with a Rs 1,350-crore police modernisation grant in 2009 ahead of the Commonwealth Games.
The situation is no different in Mumbai. In the July 13 blast that killed 26 persons, forensic teams were unable to even reconstruct the bomb because at least two agencies walked away with fragments. Both unsolved blasts have left the police groping in the dark and citizens wounded.
India's police force is in disarray. Years of accumulated neglect have resulted in a force barely able to respond to a 10.9 per cent increase in crime each decade. It is incapable of an effective response to threats like terrorism. Six bomb attacks in 18 months still remain unsolved. The 20 lakh-strong force is short of nearly 5 lakh policemen. It will take another decade to make up this shortfall. India already has among the world's worst police to public ratios. Just 128 policemen per 100,000 population (the UN mandates a minimum of 222 policemen). Yet as internal security expert Ajai Sahni points out, a manpower surge may not be enough. "Police need to transform their profile through better training, equipment, orientation and deployment."
Facing facts: Police not ready to fight terror
Delhi, Mumbai blasts have shown yet again that, riven by corruption, Indian Police is unprepared to tackle modern terror and other threats. How long will it take before they get their act together?
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| Dr Sanjay Kumar Cardiac Cardiothoracic Heart Surgeon India |
An infographic on the state of Indian police
Barely had the smoke cleared when the Delhi Police released sketches of suspects that were so laughably obscure that if taken seriously, could have led to the detention of large numbers of the city's adult male population. If that wasn't enough, a frenetic blame game began between the home minister and the Lt Governor, both of whom control the city police. P. Chidambaram insisted Lt Governor Tejendra Khanna had been warned of an impending attack. Khanna denied having received any warning. The NIA swung in and arrested four persons from Kishtwar, Jammu and Kashmir for sending a threatening email soon after the blast from a cybercafe. It turned out that they were schoolboys from a nearby higher secondary school. This was the scene in the capital, which got a shot in the arm with a Rs 1,350-crore police modernisation grant in 2009 ahead of the Commonwealth Games.
The situation is no different in Mumbai. In the July 13 blast that killed 26 persons, forensic teams were unable to even reconstruct the bomb because at least two agencies walked away with fragments. Both unsolved blasts have left the police groping in the dark and citizens wounded.
India's police force is in disarray. Years of accumulated neglect have resulted in a force barely able to respond to a 10.9 per cent increase in crime each decade. It is incapable of an effective response to threats like terrorism. Six bomb attacks in 18 months still remain unsolved. The 20 lakh-strong force is short of nearly 5 lakh policemen. It will take another decade to make up this shortfall. India already has among the world's worst police to public ratios. Just 128 policemen per 100,000 population (the UN mandates a minimum of 222 policemen). Yet as internal security expert Ajai Sahni points out, a manpower surge may not be enough. "Police need to transform their profile through better training, equipment, orientation and deployment."
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