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The men who'll chase Veerappan

M D Riti in Bangalore

"I know that I am the man Veerappan hates the most," Shankar Bidri said to rediff.com, with a smile. "I know what I have done to him and his band. He knows what he has done to me and my brother officers. I have much to say about Veerappan, but government rules prevent me from saying it to the media."

And now Bidri, along with fellow police officers H T Sangliana and Kempaiah, will be on Veerappan's trail again through the Satyamangalam forest. Karnataka Chief Minister S M Krishna certainly seems to have put together a dream team to nab the brigand.

The Karnataka Special Task Force will be led by H T Sangliana, the popular Mizo officer, who is known for his bold and decisive action. Backing him are the two police officers probably best suited for the special task. All three officers are known to be tough, fearless and also quite ruthless during an investigation. Bidri and Kempaiah have a reputation of not being very soft in their investigative methods, but are known to produce results.

Bidri, as everyone knows, is the man Veerappan loves to hate. He was the man who drafted the last accord signed by the chief ministers of Karnataka and Tamil Nadu three years ago that was delivered to Veerappan by R R Gopal to facilitate the release of wildlife photographers Krupakar and Senani.

This is the agreement that Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi now holds partly responsible for Veerappan kidnapping Rajakumar, because it conceded nothing. The Karnataka police, as one man, readily agree that this is true. J H Patel was chief minister of Karnataka at that time.

Veerappan allegedly offered, in one of his earliest audio cassettes, to release Rajakumar quickly if the Karnataka government would send Bidri. Veerappan personally holds him responsible for the death of his brother Arjunan in a police van allegedly through cyanide poisoning while he was being transported to court in an STF van. "I never heard any of those cassettes, so I have no idea," laughed Bidri, when rediff.com quizzed him about it at that time. Most of the allegations of atrocities, now being investigated by a Justice Sadashiva Commission, took place during Bidri's tenure. Bidri, of course, insists that they are all false.

As Rajakumar's custody in the jungles continued almost interminably, Krishna summoned Bidri five weeks after the film star was kidnapped for advice.

"Sir, I am all for action, not negotiation, in such situations," Bidri reportedly replied. "Today is the 37th day after Rajakumar was kidnapped. I do not know what has transpired between you, Veerappan and the Tamil Nadu government in the past five weeks, so how can I advise you? But if you want to initiate some serious police action, please send for me and I would be happy to organise or lead it."

Bidri led the STF from 1993-96, and is credited with having reduced Veerappan's gang drastically. When he was taken into the STF, the then fresh-faced Bidri was a DCP in Bangalore, and was involved with apprehending terrorists in the city. Bidri actually lived in MM Hills for years, unlike his then counterpart Walter Dawaram, who was known to spend the day in his Tamil Nadu STF headquarters and return to Madras at night. When J H Patel became chief minister, he brought Bidri back to Bangalore as his chief of intelligence. Bidri served in that capacity until Krishna became chief minister last year.

Krishna now appears to have taken Bidri seriously, and summoned him as soon as Rajakumar was released. Bidri was serving as an Inspector General in the Karnataka State Reserve Police, while Kempaiah was a deputy IG in the KSRP.

When rediff.com asked Kempaiah why, given his reputation, he had not tried to track Veerappan down during his tenure as police commissioner of Mysore, he smiled enigmatically and replied that his brief had not included a mandate to do this.

Sources close to him now reveal that Kempaiah, who is a close friend of the Rajakumar family, received a call from the actor's wife Parvathamma soon after the actor was kidnapped. Kempaiah's first reaction was to ask her where the incident took place and in which direction the group had headed. "If only I had been with the STF then, I could have acted immediately, rushed a couple of thousand police personnel and surrounded the entire area and created a standoff with Veerappan," lamented Kempaiah to his friends. " Annavru (as the actor is known in Karnataka) might have been rescued within a week."

In fact, Kempaiah accompanied the Rajakumar film unit to Delhi and Kashmir last year when they were shooting Rajakumar's comeback film Shabdavedi and Kempaiah is credited with having ensured that Rajakumar's attire and conduct as a police officer were accurate.

"The need of the hour now is pure action," said Kempaiah to rediff.com . And that is something Kempaiah has been known for all through his career. Interestingly, Kempaiah has had a film made on his life, titled Kempaiah, IPS, starring Shashikumar, the actor turned politician.

Kempaiah has certainly cracked several high profile cases during his career. He led the Karnataka police team that tracked Sivarasan, prime accused in the Rajiv Gandhi murder case, to his hideout in Konana Kunte outside Bangalore. Howver, Sivarasan killed himself before he could be captured. Then, Kempaiah along with his then police commissioner, busted Bangalore's underworld.

However, he left Bangalore under a cloud as the police wing of the Lok Ayukta charged him with both corruption and misconduct. However, Kempaiah was subsequently cleared of all charges.

Now, Krishna and all of Karnataka believe that if anyone can catch Veerappan in a short time, it is this trio.

ALSO SEE
Tough cop on Veerappan's trail: Profile of H T Sangliana
How to nab Veerappan: Former TN DGP's speak out
Give Veerappan a chance to reform: Nedumaran

The Rajakumar Abduction: complete coverage
The saga of Veerappan

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