Drug dealing is one of the most inauspicious topics in our country. These days drug dealers often make headlines in connection with “gunfight” and “crossfire” incidents, with the official narrative always pinning the blame on them for triggering a hostile situation to which law enforcement officials are then forced to respond—in other words, shoot to kill. One often comes across stories of gunfight in the media. However, detailed news regarding such incidents and raids are hard to come by.

The story usually goes like this: law enforcement officials arrest criminals, drug dealers in this case. Then, according to the information given by arrestees, they conduct drives to recover drugs or firearms from the possession of other suspected criminals. Such drives, in most cases, lead the latter to open fire on the raiding officers, which ends up in a gunfight. The story ends with the drug dealers getting killed in the process, and the lawmen recovering the said drugs or weapons.

As all the tales of gunfight are more or less the same, they have become quite controversial with the public getting more and more reluctant to believe them. I think conducting raids in broad daylight, instead of the wee hours, and doing that in the presence of journalists/observers can ensure accountability of the law enforcement and bring some much-needed clarity to the mystery of crossfire.