I, Monish Sanjay Suri, S/o Late B.N. Suri, age 29 years staff reporter with the Indian Express at New Delhi, residing at P-4, Malviya Nagar, New Delhi-110017 do hereby solemnly affirm and state as under:

1.                  I went to the Karol Bagh police station on the morning of November 5 on hearing that the police had recovered a lot of property looted during the days of rioting and that many persons had been arrested.

2.                  I heard a lot of shouting going on inside the SHO’s office.  I went to the door of the office.  I saw the Additional Commissioner of Police, Delhi range, Mr. Hukam Chand Jatav, sitting in the SHO’s chair.  With him was the Central District, DCP, Mr. Amod Kanth.  On the other side of the table, among a group of people shouting, I saw Assistant Commissioner of Police, Mr. Murti Sharma and the SHO, Mr. Ranbir Singh.

3.                  Seeing me, Mr. Jatav agrily ordered a junior police officer present by the side of the door to take me away from there.  I had to leave the room, but the shouting was so loud that I could hear everything a few paces away.  But then I went round the side and positioned myself near the window through which I could see what was going on in the room, and also hear what was being said.

4.                  Among the group of people who had come to the office were Mr. Dharam Dass Shastri, then MP, and Mr. Moti Lal Bakolia, Congress-I leader.  Both Bakolia and Shastri were shouting in protest against the arrests made by the police.  But it was an odd situation.  The Congress-I leaders were shouting against Mr. Kanth, the DCP, and his senior, Mr. Jatav was clearly expressing sympathy with the position of the leaders, in a clear rejection of the work done by his own DCP, Mr. Kanth.

5.                  At one point Mr. Kanth accused the leaders of trying to shield criminals.  At this there was loud frenzied shouting on all sides.  I saw Mr. Bakoliya got up and reach out at the SHO, as if to assault him.  Some others got up and calmed him down.  Mr. Shastri was fully backing what Bakoliya was doing.  Neither Mr. Jatav nor Mr. Kanth did anything about the rough treatment that the local leaders were trying to give out.

6.                  In a while Mr. Ram Murti Sharma came out of the office.  He said to me that whenever the police try to do any work, the politicians stop them.  Obviously disgusted, he pointed to what was going on inside.

7.                  The shouting continued for a while and then  the meeting ended. I do not know what was decided.  Outside I met Mr. Jatav. I asked him why as a senior officer he had not been firm in preventing some politicians from misbehaving with his SHO.  He said nothing of the sort had happened.  I said I had seen it.  His reply was that no, you have not seen it.

8.                  I asked him what the shouting had all been about, why the Congress-I leaders were protesting against what the police had done.  Mr. Jatav said it is all the fault of Mr. Kanth.  He said Mr. Kanth does not know how to behave with politicians.  He also saidMr. Kanth was at fault.  He seemed very excited and agitated and he spoke against Mr. Kanth very vehemently.  He was also very aggressive towards me.  Abruptly, he left.

9.                  I then went upto Mr. Dharam Dass Shastri outside the Karol Bagh police station.  I asked him why he was protesting against arrests being made by the police.  His reply was that the police should take away the recovered prope3rty, but should not arrest the people.  He said these people were not criminals, just because some property had been recovered from them.

10.             Mr. Shastri then said he was angry because the police had misbehaved in colonies where they had conducted raids and recovered property.  The police had used foul language, he said, and he was very upset about that.

11.             I asked Mr. Shastri how he could expect that the police should recover looted property and not arrest those from whom it had been recovered, when that was a clear offence.  By then a small crowd had gathered around us.  Hearing the question, someone in the crowd shouted at Mr. Shastri that he must answer this question.  Mr. Shastri said the arrested men were innocent.

12.             After Mr. Shastri left I saw Mr. Kanth.  He trembling with emotion and he had tears in his eyes.  I had seen that he had been humiliated by a senior officer for doing his job.  I asked him what he was going to do.  His reply was that he would do nothing now, simply take leave and go away.  He was emphatic that he would not be around, and that there was nothing for him todo.  He could not speak much more and left.

13.             I reported the incident briefly in the newspaper the next day. The incident I saw was very telling.  It had revealed to me the relationship of the Congress-I leaders of the area to those who had indulged in rioting and looting.  And, it had revealed to me the attitude of certain key officers in the police towards the Congress-I leaders seeking to protect the suspects in the cases of rioting, looting and killings.

14.             Mr. Jatav gave a statement for publication that the police would continue to take action against anti-social elements involved in the cases.  But his action and attitudes seemed to indicate something different from his words.

15.             The others present apart from myself were either politicians and policemen. I can claim no other strictly independent witness to support me in what I am saying.  But I was only saying what I saw, that to which I am direct witness I heard for more, with supportive indications that the accounts were true.  But I hope that Mr. Ram Murli  Sharma and Amod Kanth will come up to support me and corroborate what I saw before inquiry commission in the interest of truth, even though they are police officers with all the pressure and compulsions that go with being a member of the Force.