Could they have saved Rahul Raj?
While Mumbai Police and state government are facing a strong backlash to the manner in which Patna youth Rahul Raj was shot dead in an encounter after he held passengers on a bus at gunpoint in Kurla, two senior IPS officers within its ranks who have received special training in the US to deal with hostage negotiations were not used in the operation at all. Both these officers were sent to the US six years ago to undergo training conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The two officers – Joint Commissioner of Police (Law and Order) K L Prasad and Joint Commissioner of Police (Traffic) Sanjay Barve – were sent by the state police to the FBI Academy in the US in 2002, to receive training on how to tackle hostage situations and negotiate with gunmen. The FBI, which is considered the negotiation arm of the US government in international incidents, has a Crisis Negotiation Unit (CNU) which is responsible for its Crisis (Hostage) Negotiation Programme. The CNU regularly condu
