Opinion: TN’s ‘encounters’ are unbecoming of a government with social justice principles

When the State praises ‘encounter specialists’ like S Velladurai IPS for their extra-constitutional acts, and spares ‘torture specialists’ like Balvir Singh IPS, police accountability goes for a toss.

With three extra-judicial killings in a single week, the Tamil soil of social justice has seemingly turned into a full-fledged police State. The Cuddalore ‘encounter’ of April 2 was the 18th such incident since the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) government came to power in 2021. The government justified the murders of most of the 21 killed by stating that they were hardened criminals trying to attack the police, but what these deaths expose are the inefficiency of the police and the blatant disregard for the rule of law. 

On March 26, the Chennai City Police shot an alleged chain snatcher from north India, after he allegedly opened fire against the cops — the standard encounter narrative of the police. 

Five days after this, there was the extrajudicial killing of an A+ category history sheeter in Madurai city, which also faces foul play allegations by the family and activists. A team from the Joint Action Against Custodial Torture (JAACT) visited the spot and categorically termed it a planned act. On April 11, the JAACT, along with 75 other people's organisations in Tamil Nadu released a statement condemning the ‘encounters’ in the state.

The third in this series of killings was a 19-year-old from Cuddalore, murdered on April 2, yet another case shrouded in the same troubling inconsistencies.

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Henri Tiphagne, a human rights activist, noted in concurrence, “Encounters prevent suspects from exercising the right to defend themselves, and condemn the usual stories cooked up by the police during every encounter.” He also deplored that a day might come when innocent lives are taken by ‘encounter’ killings. This has already taken place several times, a stark example being the killing of an innocent agricultural labourer in 2023 by the Forest Department in the Gudalur range.