It’s not untrue some police officials abuse power for private gain of several kinds. The NN Vohra committee report of 1993 explains the inside story too vividly though the script is not popularly available.
All the same, like everywhere else in the world, less than 0.1% of police guys are honest and gutsy and can never figure in Vohra committee-like reports. These rare breed of police heroes remain dedicated to eliminating dreaded criminals who are nearly impossible to nab under the provisions of law. They are godsend creatures and invariably regarded as messiahs.
The ‘difficult to forget’ forest brigand Veerappan’s gory credentials are a case in point even today. In August 1992, Verappan killed Mysore SP Harikrishna and his team of six policemen. A year later, he killed 22 policemen and seriously injured SP Gopalakrishna through a blast.
After kidnapping the cine star, Veerappan set out a long list of demands, including settling of Cauvery water disputes, to camouflage his only ransom term, close TADA cases against his associates and release them from jails.
Bowing to the brigand, the two state governments began the legal process to release his associates. No human rights organisation, rights activist or advocate felt the need to move SC against this unholy nexus trampling the dignity of those who died fighting the scourge called Veerappan. It was Abdul Karim, a grieving old father of a sub-inspector slain by Veerappan, who courageously moved the SC to stop this smothering of the rule of law. The SC agreed with Karim and prevented release of brigand’s associates.
Veerappan was killed in a police encounter on October 18, 2004, which had raised several legal questions. His wife Muthulakshmi said her husband was sedated by her relatives and then killed in cold blood by police! Her tears moved the human rights organisations, which had not reacted to tears shed silently by the kin of the 124 killed in cold blood by the brigand.
The people who raised questions merrily forgot the 2,000 elephants and the eaten up sandalwood forests.Around then, as many as eight human rights organisations came together to form a fact finding team which visited the Veerappan encounter site.
On January 18, 2005 the fact finding team released its report to the media echoing Muthulakshmi’s version - Veerappan and his three associates were given sedative through buttermilk and that they were unconscious when captured by policemen. The most honourable Madras High Court tossed out this theory in its March 2006 judgment.
The court realised the truth and acted accordingly. The public decision was more respectable than the letter-driven impression created by the headless rights activists. The entire mankind was happy that a dreaded criminal was eliminated, no matter how.
Odisha used to be a peaceful State until recent times. But due to information technology being easy to access and cheap to use, everyone today knows everything. Criminals of all grades are emerging every day, that find picking sophisticated crime tricks by using high-tech information devices which are a dozen a dime presently. So, even the Odisha suburban gangster is as sophisticated in applying the criminal mind and methods as the members of the crime syndicates in New York or Moscow.
Extortion, intimidation, robbery, forced prostitution and rape had become uncontrollable criminal activities across Odisha before Naveen Patnaik became boss. After Naveen took over, crime control was placed high on agenda. Dreaded criminals from the organised crime cartels and the street hooligans alike were identified and fixed by the police.
Not surprisingly, many a so-called high-profile crime-loving crooks who enjoyed being protégés of politicians or kept political bigwigs under threat, had to surrender or flee.Only a couple of months ago, eminent citizens of Cuttack expressed displeasure when DCP Akhilesh Singh was relocated to Puri. Even highly-respected members of the judiciary, both serving and former, felt uncomfortable over Akhilesh’s transfer. Akhilesh landed in Puri to get down to business without losing even one hour over meaningless niceties.
He never threw his weight around as the top cop but devoted quality time to devising strategies for crime control in shortest time and send fear signals across the criminal groups. In less than two months, absconding arrest-warrantees were picked, dreaded ones nabbed and the rattled ones simply compelled to vanish into thin air.
Extortion and bullying rackets were busted ruthlessly, illegal lottery-gambling organisers pounded in a manner as never before and narcotic drug peddlers caught, crushed and their pan-India links identified. Most significantly, the dreaded criminals dealing in illegal firearms were scooped from all their hiding holes and brought to book.
As the word goes round today, one such guy with a number of criminal cases slapped on him from previous years was nabbed and taken to custody. While facing interrogation, he played smart and allegedly hurled abuses at the already infuriated officials.
On being horrifically warned, he realised mistake and got panicky; and sensing danger of landing in jail for long lost composure. What followed exactly, no outsider knows. But there is talk of sudden mental breakdown and eventual collapse ending in death.
The people must know no police guy would commit such a blunder as using fatal third degree methods. Marks of injury sometimes show up if the accused tried to escape from routine strangleholds resulting in slip of feet and fall on rough surfaces.
Now uproar is being heard by rights groups who keep singing the ‘letter’ of a court ruling rather than the ‘spirit’ of law.That dreaded criminals of any hue or enormity have to go has been an age-old public demand since man became civilised.
Wrongly or rightly, an individual, grossly hated by the public, has lost his life. But the sensible residents of Puri town say, “That a life got extinguished is a painful incident. But the person who lost life is a hated one even after death, which means he was a burden on humanity for having constantly caused pain, ache and sorrow and distress to innocent law-abiding locals.”
By and large, the people do not miss the dead; they miss Akhilesh Singh, whom they consider a big victim of circumstances.