Coimbatore: It's a film that paints a bleak picture of the police force and we may well like to believe that it is fiction, but retired officers concede that much of what Vetrimaaran's `Visaranai' presents is not an exaggerated version of reality. We indeed live in a society where police use brutal and illegal methods to enforce the law. The film which is inspired by the real-life experience of an autorickshaw driver, M Chandra Kumar of Coimbatore, deals with the entire gamut: custodial torture, encounter killings and false cases.
While serving officers in Tamil Nadu remain tightlipped, those who are no longer in the force admit that torture is one of the basic means to get a criminal talking and pressure from higher-ups to achieve results. "It is true," said former DGP Bholonath. "Some police personnel implicate innocent people to settle scores or due to pressure to solve a case. They act in this manner when under pressure from media, seniors or politicians." Conceding that torture is mandatory against hardened criminals, retired police officer S Aravindan said, "Many criminals admit to crimes only after police resort to physical abuse."
However, such cases go largely unnoticed because the affected individuals do not have the wherewithal or the means to prove their innocence. Of course, such cases are exceptions, say seniors in the force. "Some of the incidents shown in the film may be true but it is also true that films tend to exaggerate. TN police is far better than any other state in the country," said R Thilakara, retired head of the criminology department of Madras University.
However, the film's depiction of police brutality seems more chilling when viewed in the light of the fact that the story is based on an autobiographical account. The book, "Lock Up", narrates the experiences of the autorickshaw driver-turned-writer, who was falsely implicated in a case in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh and tortured for two weeks in detention. National Crime Records Bureau statistics show TN had seven cases of custodial deaths in 2014. In addition, there are allegations by several families of torture and fake encounters. For instance, on June 7, 2006, when the notorious rowdy, Nagoor Meeran, of Vyasarpadi was killed in Korattur, his family cried foul. Police sources said the encounter was to settle scores with a former MLA.
Encounter deaths, if it all recorded, are rarely investigated as they often involve people from the margins of society. A person who has served time for murder, on condition of anonymity, alleges he was framed by a police officer. "I had been summoned to the police station for questioning when the investigating officer asked me to get him tea. Later, the same inspector charged me for murder in a case I had no clue of, just by using my fingerprints from the glass of tea."
'Visaranai' also has references to a 2012 encounter of a five-member gang from Bihar suspected to be bank robbers. "If the police hadn't taken the extreme step then, the law and order situation would have been at risk," said a police officer, who was involved in the operation. The officers involved in the case were later cleared by the Madras high court.
While these instances may raise serious concerns, former police officer DGP Bholonath says the force usually works only to protect the public and that he had never allowed his juniors to arrest a suspect without convincing him.
While serving officers in Tamil Nadu remain tightlipped, those who are no longer in the force admit that torture is one of the basic means to get a criminal talking and pressure from higher-ups to achieve results. "It is true," said former DGP Bholonath. "Some police personnel implicate innocent people to settle scores or due to pressure to solve a case. They act in this manner when under pressure from media, seniors or politicians." Conceding that torture is mandatory against hardened criminals, retired police officer S Aravindan said, "Many criminals admit to crimes only after police resort to physical abuse."
However, such cases go largely unnoticed because the affected individuals do not have the wherewithal or the means to prove their innocence. Of course, such cases are exceptions, say seniors in the force. "Some of the incidents shown in the film may be true but it is also true that films tend to exaggerate. TN police is far better than any other state in the country," said R Thilakara, retired head of the criminology department of Madras University.
However, the film's depiction of police brutality seems more chilling when viewed in the light of the fact that the story is based on an autobiographical account. The book, "Lock Up", narrates the experiences of the autorickshaw driver-turned-writer, who was falsely implicated in a case in Guntur, Andhra Pradesh and tortured for two weeks in detention. National Crime Records Bureau statistics show TN had seven cases of custodial deaths in 2014. In addition, there are allegations by several families of torture and fake encounters. For instance, on June 7, 2006, when the notorious rowdy, Nagoor Meeran, of Vyasarpadi was killed in Korattur, his family cried foul. Police sources said the encounter was to settle scores with a former MLA.
Encounter deaths, if it all recorded, are rarely investigated as they often involve people from the margins of society. A person who has served time for murder, on condition of anonymity, alleges he was framed by a police officer. "I had been summoned to the police station for questioning when the investigating officer asked me to get him tea. Later, the same inspector charged me for murder in a case I had no clue of, just by using my fingerprints from the glass of tea."
'Visaranai' also has references to a 2012 encounter of a five-member gang from Bihar suspected to be bank robbers. "If the police hadn't taken the extreme step then, the law and order situation would have been at risk," said a police officer, who was involved in the operation. The officers involved in the case were later cleared by the Madras high court.
While these instances may raise serious concerns, former police officer DGP Bholonath says the force usually works only to protect the public and that he had never allowed his juniors to arrest a suspect without convincing him.