What was the role of the Crime Branch in the pogrom?
Transcript: PRAHLAD RAJU
The extermination squad that entered Gulbarg had all the time in the world, says an accused in the case
TEHELKA: How did the police behave with you on the day of the Gulbarg incident?
Raju: The police did nothing except watch us…
TEHELKA: They let you do whatever you wanted to?
Raju: They did not arrest a single person that day. Nobody was touched.
TEHELKA: They didn’t stop anyone?
Raju: They dispersed us after 4:30.
TEHELKA: Till then nobody was stopped?
Raju: When orders came from the higher-ups… we were told to leave.
TEHELKA: They let you do as you wanted till 4:30?
Raju: Yes… The Crime Branch people behaved very nicely with us… We felt completely at home… Our family members used to come to meet us and they were allowed to… We were kept at the Branch for about a week…
The Crime Branch behaved very nicely with them, indeed.
Update: The above excerpt comes from Tehelka's well-known expose into the pogroms.
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Note: A slightly modified
Note: A slightly modified version of "Encounters are Murder" has been published as the editorial of the current issue of Economic and Political Weekly (EPW, 12-18 September 2009).