In an exchange offer of sorts, police khabris are demanding huge favours to part with information on blasts, which often turns out to be vague and inaccurate
In an exchange offer of sorts, police khabris are demanding huge favours to part with information on blasts, which often turns out to be vague and inaccurate From school admissions for their kids to houses to arms licences to lump sums, informers want it all.
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Until a year ago, when you read stories of the Mumbai Police force and their informer network, you got the impression that it was a sacrosanct symbiotic relationship the one utilising the other for extracting information, and in turn, looking out for him, extending patronage, money and resources of other kind.
That story has now gone astray of the intended script. The sympatico khaki-khabri bond has turned parasitic, pockmarked with greed and mistrust.
The gaping chinks in their association are apparent now that the men in uniform are encumbered with an epic case to solve the triple blasts of July 13. And the informers, privy to how clueless cops are in this case, are milking it.
As officials of the state Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) and the Crime Branch of Mumbai Police chase that one copper-bottomed lead that will crack the blasts case, their one-time trusted sources are busy preparing long wish lists they want fulfilled, for even a sliver of information that has a one-in-a-million chance of turning out to be correct, according to cops.
Senior police officials from the Mumbai police have been flooded with inane, never-heard-before demands from the khabris.
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While some are demanding hefty sums of money, as much as Rs 5 lakh, others are asking for an arms licence, a house to live in, and sundry other privileges to be extended to them, such as favours for admission of their kids in schools, and expecting wives in hospitals.
Size of the prize
Interestingly, the whimsical demands of the khabris, or zeroes as they have come to be called, acquired a fillip after the state government announced a Rs-10 lakh cash reward to the 15-member Crime Branch team that cracked the J Dey murder case. Even though Dey's case was solved without any tip-off from an informer, the size of the kickback has spurred khabris to ask to be paid more.
It is no secret that the Mumbai police are under mammoth pressure after the blasts ripped through the city. No terrorist organisation has taken responsibility. No substantial clues or clinching evidence has been recovered. And the cops are desperate.
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They want to crack the case at any cost. In such a situation, they have little but the khabri network to fall on.u00a0 They can't even afford to dismiss their claims, and hence demands, even if they seem bizarre, extortionate or irrational.
According to an ATS officer, "Khabris come to us exhibiting great confidence in their information. They say that after giving the information, their death is certain, and then make the demands. Said one, 'I want to shift to another city. For this I want a flat and some cash.' Another informer demanded an arms licence."
The officer added, "Most of them are cocksure that they have the right dope on people we are looking for. They could be bluffing, but it is risky to discard their claims without at least verifying them."
At this stage comes in the negotiation of the reward. At times, if police officers agree to the khabri's price, he revises the stakes upwards.
On occasions, he is not the real informer but someone who knows or access to him. In such a scenario, another round of negotiations ensue. Cost of information is escalated. Discussions are held among different parties. But the khabri calls the shot in the end, cops said.
The officers are not allotted funds to pay off the informers. For a case such as the blasts, they may ask for anywhere between Rs 1,000 and Rs 5 lakh, depending how grave teh case is. Some officers enter into a covenant with the informers. They pay the informers more than the price quoted but after the case is solved.
Data error
In any case, the problem with the informers' demands has little to do with how outlandish they are, and more with the "information" at stake. Cops say informers make absurd claims, but they have to be heeded, given how rarefied the situation is.
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"Two days ago, an informer told ATS that an Indian Mujahideen (IM) man was hiding in Bhiwandi. The information turned out to be rubbish.
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We verified and found nothing of the sort. I have given more than Rs 20,000 to khabris so far and have not received a single piece pf information that turned to be correct," said a top ATS official.
A CB officer told this paper that an informer told him of a suspect in Malegaon, who might have been involved in the blasts. Another pointed to a Pakistani national, married to an Indian, was living in Mumbai.
Someone else said the same of a Bangladeshi. For the sheer number and size of such claims, sieving information from the chaff is difficult.
In fact, according to a CB official, on Monday, the Intelligence Bureau was tipped off of a terror attack in the city on the anniversary of the 26/7 floods that is today.
Some cops are beginning to treat the khabri's information sceptically. A senior CB inspector said he never depends on just any khabri, because he knows who is authentic and capable.
"But I give them some money to continue the relationship," he said, adding, "Rookies and junior officers need informers and they pay them the money. But established officers rely on their own network and intelligence."
Some informers lie, to gain some brownie points with cops. If a sensational case has been solved, a sullied informer would tell police officers that it was his tip-off that helped make a breakthrough and that he had been recompensed handsomely (in lakhs, as sources said) for it, all to establish street credibility.
Zero sum game
The code name Zero refers to an informer in Dawood Ibrahim's stronghold. When someone praises an informer by calling him a 'goodman', in typical Indian gesturing, he touches his thumb to his coiled index finger, making it look like a zero. Hence the name.u00a0 It has expanded to include any informer.
What officials say
"Often, due to a mutual understanding, we have paid money to informers unnecessarily," said Himanshu Roy, joint commissioner of police, crime branch.
"We face a lot of problems with informers. Most of them are selfish. They use police officers for their own monetary ends. They behave like goons. They extract favours from us and still, oftentimes, give information that is wrong," said Y P Singh, activist and a former IPS officer.
"Some informers tried to use me for settling personal enmity. They expected huge amounts in the way of rewards.
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I remember booting out of my office several such khabris who tried to extort money from me. In my experience, there are types of informers. I go to my personal khabris who do not ask for money," said Kailash Davkhar, retired ACP from the Mumbai police.
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