Mumbai: The Mumbai police is known for sharp detection of crimes. However, there are several that have remained unsolved for years together. The sensational gunning down of the British deputy high commissioner Percy Leonard Norris, 56, near Hutatma Chowk nee Flora Fountain around 8.30am on November 27, 1984 sent shockwaves not only among the diplomatic corps but also among Mumbaikars in general. Norris at that time was being chauffeured to his office.
However, even after 39 years after the daylight crime the police have been unable to come anywhere near solving it. The Mumbai police, which is often compared to the famed Scotland Yard, proved how very misleading the comparison is.
According to an eyewitness, two assassins sporting dark blue track suits lay in wait near the fountain. The moment the limousine neared them, they pumped four 9mm bullets from a semi-automatic into Norris, who was in the rear seat. One bullet neatly pierced his temple, while another traversed his chest. Morris D’souza, the experienced driver, panicked but managed to look out of the window to get a glimpse of one of the tall and well-built assassins fleeing. By the time D’souza veered into the driveway of Breach Candy Hospital at a distance of 6km, Norris was already dead.
Meticulous recce and planning
The assassination of the highly decorated diplomat could not have happened without meticulous recce and planning. Obviously the diplomat’s morning routine was well known to the killers and their mastermind.
Norris, who lived in the Shanudeep building on Altamount Road, normally would take about 30 minutes to reach the Fountain roundabout. The precise point where the car would swerve to head towards the British deputy high commission was known to them.
Later that night, a little known terror outfit called the Revolutionary Organisation of Muslim Socialists owned up to the killing. Its members called up news agencies in Paris and London that alleged that Norris was a spy. They warned of more murders of diplomats if their mate arrested in London for the murder of the Israeli ambassador to the UK in 1982 was not released.
Mumbai police's dragnet across the metropolis
The Mumbai police spread a dragnet across the metropolis and alerted its men at the airport and the docks. Apparently, the duo did not leave the city immediately since they knew that the cops were on the close look for them. The murder could not have happened without local support and it is interesting to note that the Dawood Ibrahim gang was beginning to peak. It was once again the local support group which sheltered the killers. In all probability, the killers might have escaped through the sea route which continues to be poorly secured.
It appears that Norris came into the radar of the terror group between 1980 and 1983 when he was posted in Dubai. Shortly before moving to Bombay in 1984, he was awarded the OBE (Order of the British Empire), an honour bestowed by Queen Elizabeth II. His two children, Martin and Madeleine, felt that the Mumbai police have not done enough to solve the murder. Maybe they are right.
