Encounter killing in a Delhi restaurant: 30 second footage,18 eyewitnesses raise questions about cops' version

The Delhi police has released their version of events that led to the killing of Manoj Vashishtha by the Special Cell of the Delhi Police in a dramatic shootout  on Sunday.

“When he reached at the spot, Manoj, sensing police presence, opened fire on our men. When the team fired back in self-defence, one bullet hit him and he was injured,” Special Commissioner (Special Cell) SN Srivastava told PTI on Sunday .

Vashishtha was taken to a nearby hospital where he was declared dead. No one else was injured in the incident.

The official narrative of the incident is no different from most ’encounters’ that have taken place across the country. But in Vashishtha’s case, despite the fact that he was wanted in several cases of fraud and other crimes, the Delhi Police admit that they had no case against.

The preliminary post-mortem report revealed that he died of a bullet hitting him in the head. The police later said a constable who was part of the team had fired at Vashishtha to incapacitate him, but the bullet killed him instead.

CCTV footage of the restaurant in which Vashishtha was killed shows a scuffle between the police officials and him, but offers little clarity on who fired and when. The 29-second grainy footage shows two policemen in plain clothes walk up to Vashisth at 8:15 PM in Sagar Ratna restaurant in New Rajender Nagar area where he is seen sitting in the middle of the restaurant with other customers.

The video shows a scuffle between the police officials and Vashishtha but there is no image of him shooting at the team. It’s also not clear who shot at him but Vashishtha is seen collapsing on the ground even as other customers flee. While it doesn’t offer conclusive evidence refuting the police’s version, it does prove that there was no dramatic shootout of the kind they had claimed.

Witness accounts are also inconclusive. A police official told the Indian Express that all the 18 eyewitnesses said that they saw Vashishtha take a pistol out  and they started to run out when the scuffle began but none saw who had fired at whom.

“All eyewitnesses have said the same thing — that they were present at the spot and saw Vashishth whipping out a pistol. But most of them got scared and started running when Vashishth got into a scuffle with the police officers. They just heard the gunshots and could not see who opened fire first or who fired the bullet that killed Vashishth,” the officer said. The newspaper, however, doesn’t seem to have spoken to any of the witnesses to verify their version of events.

Vashishtha was reportedly involved in multiple cases of real estate fraud where he had cheated people posing as the head of a construction company and wasn’t afraid of getting bodyguards to intimidate disgruntled customers. The Indian Express reported that Vashishtha had multiple cases pending against him even as he travelled in a expensive car with bodyguards in tow. While his wife, Priyanka,  has claimed he was a social worker and that he was targeted because the Delhi Police was attempting to extort money from him. What is even more curious is the fact that the Special Cell of the Delhi Police – in response to an anticipatory bail plea filed by Vashishtha on 5 May alleging harassment – declared that there was no complaint filed against him in their department, reported Hindustan Times . The police is also now probing whether the Special Cell was tapping his phone illegally given he wasn’t accused of any serious crime.

For now, the Delhi Police has transferred all nine members of the team that was involved in the shooting and launched a probe by its vigilance department to check into allegations of extortion. This is in addition to the SIT and magisterial inquiries that are already underway.

Like many other encounters in the past, the Delhi Police’s defence offered thus far isn’t very convincing. Questions are also being raised about why exactly the Special Cell was involved in case of financial fraud when their focus is supposed to be terrorism and other serious crimes. The Delhi Police may have put up a brave front, but the record of its Special Cell is hardly stellar , with multiple officials being accused of corruption and fake encounters in the past. Mere transfers of officials won’t cut it this time. The Delhi Police will need to come clean as to why the team was trying to nab Vashishtha when it wasn’t even in their mandate. In this case, the onus of proving its innocence clearly lies with the Delhi Police.