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The Rediff Interview/Abdul Kareem, father of Sub-Inspector Shakeel Ahmed, who was killed in an ambush in August 1992 by Veerappan

"The more we give in to Veerappan's demands, the more he will come to believe that violence and abduction pay and the more he will ask for"

"Veerappan had so many demands, like wanting the ex-STF chief, IGP Shankar Bidri, to be handed over to him in exchange for one of the hostages," says septuagenarian Abdul Kareem, father of Sub-Inspector Shakeel Ahmed, who was killed in an ambush in August 1992 by Veerappan. "Why are they only conceding to this one -- to let off all the TADA detenues -- some of whom were arrested in connection with the murder of my son?"

Kareem has been fighting a lone battle against the release of the TADA detainees for over three years now, through three hostage crises involving Veerappan. The first two were in 1997. The latest is the one involving the abduction of actor Rajakumar. Although Kareem's petition opposing the release has been defeated in Mysore now, the retired deputy superintendent of police is undeterred. He has now faxed his petition opposing the freeing of TADA detainees in Mysore to the Supreme Court and is awaiting confirmation of its acceptance there.

His main contention is that the release of these men and women will set a bad example for terrorist movements all over the country. They will all be encouraged, he says, to take celebrity hostages and demand the release of terrorists. The TADA prisoners of Mysore, as everyone knows, are largely poor tribals and villagers, but Kareem contends that some of them are Veerappan's gang members. Their cases should all be examined fairly instead of letting everyone off the hook out of fear of Veerappan and what he may do to his film star hostage, he insists.

"We too love Dr Rajakumar and are most anxious that he should be released safely and quickly," says Kareem. "We pray for him five times a day. But the government should approach this whole issue sensibly and not just buckle in. The chivalry of brave police officers who made the supreme sacrifice like my son did should not be ignored."

Worn out after many long days spent at the court and in lawyers' offices, the ailing Kareem spoke to M D Riti in the presence of his older son, Professor Jameel Ahmed, who teaches political science at Mysore University, who also had his say. Excerpts:

On Kareem's lone battle against the release of the TADA detainees:

Yes, it is a lone and difficult battle, but I am determined to pursue it to the very end. My main goal is that Veerappan should be brought to justice and that he should get no concessions. I know that I have the tacit support and appreciation of all the slain police personnel's families and I am fighting this battle on their behalf too, it is not only for my son. Many other slain police personnel's families are mute because they do not want to invite hostility from anyone.

On whether TADA should have been invoked to arrest suspects in the killing of Shakeel Ahmed and his boss, T Harikrishna:

The ambush had all the characteristics of a terrorist act. Lethal weapons, rifles, hand grenades and landmines were used. How can the government now drop TADA charges against the prime accused in this connection just because of pressure from a bandit who has become a terrorist? These arrests have been made at tremendous cost, with the sweat and blood of police officials. Almost 50 police personnel, including Shakeel and Harikrishna, have made the supreme sacrifice for this cause. Did they die in vain?

On whether a majority of the TADA detainees are tribals and villagers guilty of petty offences:

Yes, the core members of the Veerappan gang are few in this lot of detainees. In the post-Shakeel Ahmed and Harikrishna period, from 1993 to 1995, the STF was revamped with reinforcements in the form of BSF personnel coming in. It is said that human rights were not respected by the STF during this period and that some atrocities against innocent people may have been committed. This never happened during my son's time. He may have been tough on goonda elements and hardcore bandits, but not towards women or poor villagers.

On what Kareem believes is special public prosecutor Ashwini Kumar Joshi's volte face:

He is now running with the hares and hunting with the hounds. He was appointed to this post at my request during Law Minister M C Naniah's tenure and until recently he was complaining that there was strong material evidence to secure the conviction of Veerappan and his gang accused in the killing of Shakeel and Harikrishna, but he could not speak up because he was not given adequate security. I spoke to DG [Director General of Police C] Dinakar and helped him get security.

Now the same man says, on one hand, that there are orders issued by the Karnataka government to withdraw the cases. Then he says he is acting independently and that it is his prerogative to take his own decisions, even if they are arbitrary.

On Shakeel Ahmed's commitment to capturing Veerappan:

Shakeel was 31 years old when he was killed by Veerappan and his gang. He was still a bachelor because he had vowed that he would not marry until he had apprehended Veerappan. It was a personal crusade for him though not for personal reasons. He believed that Veerappan was a menace to civilised society.

When the STF was first set up in 1990, Shakeel volunteered to hunt down Veerappan. This was at a time when most other police officers were reluctant to join this group because of the brutal manner in which Veerappan had killed three officers and a policeman at Hogenakkal in 1990.

On the conditions in which Shakeel and the STF worked in those early years:

The odds were stacked against Shakeel and his colleagues in those years. They knew nothing about guerilla warfare or jungle tracking. They had to cope with difficult terrain, Veerappan's intelligence network, moles and fifth columnists in the police department. But they still tracked down and apprehended several of Veerappan's hardcore gang members.

On the ambush in which Shakeel died:

Harikrishna and Shakeel were pressed into service on that particular day and told that they could catch Veerappan at a particular spot. Instead, they were ambushed and killed. If Shakeel and Harikrishna had been given full freedom to evolve their own strategy to ambush Veerappan, they would have succeeded that day. But they were not. Many Veerappans in khaki, khadi and safari suits were responsible for this murder. Who exactly were they? I would not like to name them.

On the conspiracy that Kareem insists was behind the killing of Shakeel:

Why have all investigations into this killing never explored the element of conspiracy that I am convinced existed in the death trap into which my son, Harikrishna and others walked? A couple of politicians and granite contractors had a vested interest in eliminating these police officers. They were in collusion with Veerappan. I have been asking for a CBI probe into this episode for a long time now.

Shakeel and Harikrishna had reduced Veerappan's sandalwood smuggling and ivory-poaching activities greatly by their vigilance and their hot pursuit of him and his gang. He was forced to maintain his gang through extortion from granite quarry contractors. Shakeel used to say that they supplied food, ammunition, gelatin sticks and explosives to Veerappan and his men.

So these two police officers wrote to the Karnataka government asking them to impose a ban on quarrying for a few months, as they were hampering anti-Veerappan activities. When the government refused to impose a blanket ban on quarrying, Shakeel and Harikrishna imposed section 144 on that area and made quarrying operations there impracticable as well as illegal. I believe that this led local politicians as well as businessmen from the granite and sandalwood lobbies to hatch a conspiracy that eventually led to the death of my son and other members of his police posse.

On Veerappan being given amnesty:

I have consistently opposed not just amnesty but any kind of leniency being displayed towards Veerappan and his gang. President K R Narayanan, in his message to the nation on Independence Day, warned governments not to surrender to bandits. This was obviously an oblique reference to the abduction of Rajakumar.

The more we give in to Veerappan's demands, the more he will come to believe that violence and abduction pay and the more he will ask for. If the government strikes a hard posture against Veerappan, I think they will get a soft response from him. The MLRLM group in Bombay has already been inspired by Veerappan to threaten to abduct Dilip Kumar to secure the release of 34 TADA detainees. Tomorrow, insurgents from the Northeast may abduct Manisha Koirala and ask for ULFA militants to be released. Do we want the law of civilisation to prevail or the law of the jungle?

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