Order a full CBI probe into Mr. Gupta's murder

BSP MLA Shekhar Tiwari (accused) locked up the wife in the bathroom while he (and his accomplices) beat the husband to death

2009-01-22T20:50:00.000-08:00

http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/story.aspx?id=newen20090078653

"The MLA was also angry with Gupta because unlike his predecessors, he never came to meet him nor provided him with money to the tune of Rs 50,000 to Rs 70,000 that was demanded frequently," the DGP said.

2008-12-28T23:15:00.000-08:00

You may ask what is the connection between the recent Mumbai terror attacks and the murder of a PWD engineer by an MLA in Uttar Pradesh (reference story)

Why is it that we have to resort to a Central enquiry for a crime that normally comes under the local police's jurisdiction?

The reason is simple - the local police in (most of) India is owned by the state politicians.

Why are terror attacks under control in the U.S? Not because of the handful of locked up suspects at Gitmo (most of whom have not even been charged with a crime) - and certainly not because of the 'Global War on Terror' (whatever that means), but because of an ongoing internal vigilance at all levels of law enforcement - from the city police to the state troopers to the FBI.

Can we say the same of Mumbai or any other city in India? Even if we allow that the cops are well trained and have the safety of the public in mind, they end up having to shelve public safety for ulterior motives. They are not able to act on their better instincts since the protection of the ruling politicians takes precedence over everything else.

While we continue to think in terms of eliminating external forces responsible for the Mumbai attacks (and Pakistan, no doubt, has a lot to answer for!), we need to think in terms of eliminating internal inefficiencies - starting with the collusion of local politicians with cops.

Here are some positive steps in this direction:

A starting point - Police Reforms

Police Reform Crusader

These are a starting point. However, with politicians in Uttar Pradesh used to throwing their weight around IPS (as true of Mulayam Singh Yadav's party as of Mayawati's), how long will it take before the effects of police reform actually make the common man's life safer?

Union Minister of State for Home Jaiswal non-commital

2008-12-27T21:39:00.000-08:00

The Minister of State for Home - Mr. Sri Prakash Jaiswal - stated that he was ready to order a CBI probe provided the U.P government (the very people who would be under investigation by this probe) - gives the go-ahead!
How stupid does he think the Indian citizenry is?
There seems to be a 'business as usual' attitude in the Minister's office.
The people demand a full-fledged impartial probe - not an 'if so and so lets us - then we'll consider it...' statement. Shame on Mr. Jaiswal for taking such a backseat stance!

Sign Petition demanding CBI probe into the murder of Engineer Manoj Kumar Gupta

2008-12-26T00:28:00.000-08:00

Reference news story

Chief Minister Mayawati's eagerness to celebrate her birthday knows no bounds. Every year, her loyal supporters go door-to-door to collect 'donations' for her birthday party. This year, in their exuberance to ensure that Mayawati throws the mother-of-all-birthday bashes, they went too far. They mercilessly beat an honest engineer who refused to cough up the cash. Then - to make things worse - they carried the bleeding engineer to the police station and filed an F.I.R AGAINST him. The police took the bleeding engineer to the hospital where he was declared dead.

While it is premature to jump to conclusions, evidence certainly seems to point against Mayawati. She has stated that she will not accept a CBI probe into the matter.

Let us make sure that a full CBI probe is conducted into this seemingly blatant abuse of power - and that the truth is uncovered.

Here is a petition to ensure that this gets done!