Brainwashed in jail: Terrorists volte-face in court

Terrorist confess to police but volte-face at court. Threat suspected from other terrorists at jail. Separate barracks suggested for terrorists.

The police are caught in a predicament, when suspected terrorist who confess to police, volte-face at the last minute when presented at court. The cause for this is that other terrorists belonging to the same group in the jail pose life threat to them.  

In one such incident, Hamid Mia, a terrorist arrested in connection with attack on Indian Institute of Science (IISC) at Agarthala, Tripura, in 2005, had confessed to his role in it. However, in the last minute he changed his stand and informed the court that he was pressurised by the police to confess.

In other cases, Ali Khan Kutti, arrested in connection with the bomb blast near BJP office in Malleshwaram in 2013, and Abbas Ali arrested in the bomb blast in the Mysore court premises also changed their statements, again claiming police pressure forced them to confess. Such volte-face is hindering investigations, say police sources.

It is a usual practice to house suspected terrorists in separate reserved barracks and not with other inmates. At any prison, more than 50 suspected terrorists are housed at such barracks. The suspected terrorists, who confess to crime at the time of arrest, change their stand soon after they come into jail, influenced by the old inmates. Soon after a new accused are brought in, the old inmates immediately pose life threat and warn them not to confess in the court, it is said. Since several investigation teams have faced such plight earlier, it is a challenge for police to make the suspected terrorists stick to their confession.

Separate barracks
The police have requested prison authorities to keep the suspected terrorists in separate reserved barracks so that they do not influence each other, according to a source. This will prevent such change in stand of the terrorists. Apart from that, it also helps in finding out the modus operandi of the terrorist groups.

However, the prison authorities are not responding to this request. They feel that such segregation inevitably results in regrouping of all inmates and there are chances of suspected terrorists influencing common inmates.