Thoothukudi firing: ‘Cops failed to follow SOP by Home Ministry’, observes a retired Inspector-General

The police firing at anti-Sterlite protesters on Tuesday in which more than 10 persons died has led to widespread outrage and condemnation from all quarter.

CHENNAI: The police firing at anti-Sterlite protesters on Tuesday in which more than 10 persons died has led to widespread outrage and condemnation from all quarter. The unanimous feeling is that the firing could have been avoided.What went wrong in handling the anti-Sterlite stir that turned violent for the last two days with the protesters confronting police who used force?

“It’s nothing but a systemic failure on several fronts that led to violence and resultant loss of lives,” observes a retired Inspector-General (IG) of Police who had a long stint in Thoothukudi. Ineffective intelligence gathering mechanism, both by police and revenue departments and lack of coordination between them are the main factors for the anti-Sterlite violence and shooting, he said. Despondency among the locals who have been crying foul over the pollution caused by Sterlite plant for long, a sense of alienation as the establishment failed to address their concerns and instigation coming from extremist elements turned the peaceful stir into one of violence.

Posting inexperienced and inefficient officers in a sensitive district like Thoothukudi is also to be blamed for inept handling of the situation, it is pointed out.The ex-police officer says, “Usually officers with six to seven years experience will be posted in Thoothukudi because they alone can handle any situation with ease; but of late, it is not so.”He notes that the police and revenue authorities failed to identify and carefully isolate the extremist elements.

Meanwhile, academics blame the police of grossly flouting the standard operating procedures (SOP) to deal with mass agitations put in place by the Ministry of Home Affairs in 2011. “What I am seeing is complete disregard to the SOP evolved by the Ministry of Home Affairs. The police did not follow any of the guidelines of the SOP before using lethal means,” M Srinivasan, Head of the Department of Criminology, University of Madras, told Express.

What is the way out?
Despite the firing that snuffed out several lives, the agitators are still in a surcharged mood as tempers ran high on Wednesday too. Gun-totting police did not seem to be a deterrent to them. Observers say that only peaceful means can assuage their feelings and take them into confidence