THE RELEASE AND AFTER

Published : Nov 25, 2000 00:00 IST

The run-up to, and the exact circumstances surrounding, the release of Rajkumar from captivity leave a trail of posers and concerns and also questions about what lies ahead.

RAVI SHARMA in Bangalore T.S. SUBRAMANIAN in Chennai

IT was arguably one of the most sensational abductions of modern times. The kidnapping, and 108-day forest captivity, of the doyen of Kannada cinema and an icon of Karnataka's cultural consciousness, by an elephant poacher-forest brigand and his ragtag g ang of fugitives from the law, finally ended last fortnight.

Once the dust settles on this somewhat mystifying affair, the whys and wherefores of Dr. Rajkumar's abduction and release are uncovered, and the tangle of political interests that found common cause with Veerappan is unravelled, the central concern will, however, remain. This is that the state, despite its supposedly sophisticated law and order machinery, has for the last two decades been held to ransom by a poorly equipped criminal who has operated in a forest tract of roughly 8,000 sq km.

That Veerappan is no man-of-the-masses (as he himself, and his newly found friends within Tamil nationalist circles would have us believe) is clear from his extraordinary track record of crime. He is the accused in 124 murders, and has kidnapped approxim ately 25 people on at least five occasions. Of the estimated 2,000 cases of tuskers poached over the last 20 years, Veerappan and his gang have been involved in roughly a quarter of them. There is no evidence of Veerappan distributing largesse on a regul ar basis to the population in his area of activity. His writ in these areas, wherever it runs, is based upon the fear of the vicious reprisals to which he often subjects entire villages that he suspects to have acted against his interests.

A connected and sequential account of the latest kidnap episode reveals how Veerappan has been quick to seize new opportunities that have come his way. The abduction of Rajkumar, who had been warned by police intelligence of the possibility of such an ev entuality, was by any measure a daring operation, yet a relatively simple one, given the isolation of the village where Rajkumar and the others were seized, and its proximity to Veerappan's home territory.

The 108-day period of captivity set in motion a series of inter-related developments. There was an explosion of rage, albeit largely subdued, amongst his followers in Karnataka, leading to huge protests at perceived government ineptitude. Protracted nego tiations between the brigand and government emissaries followed, talks which later included known sympathisers of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Involved in all this were two State governments, and an anguished family backed by the film ind ustry and the powerful Rajkumar fan club network, pleading for the safe release of the actor. Another dimension was provided by the protracted legal battles, with some tough talking and judicial action by the Supreme Court. Even the actor's eventual rele ase and subsequent appearance before the media in Bangalore on November 16 was marked by a strong element of surprise, with more than one version of the exact circumstances of his release doing the rounds. In Rajkumar's own words, the abduction imbroglio appeared to be one scripted for a movie. The Rajkumar family was told of the impending release of the actor after midnight of November 14, while the Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, M. Karunanidhi and S.M. Krishna, were telephonically inform ed around 8 a.m. on November 15. Rajkumar spoke to his family, and to Krishna and Karunanidhi. After spending the night of November 15 at a house in Muzhiyanur village on the Erode-Mettur highway, the thespian was flown to Bangalore on the morning of Nov ember 16.

In his first interaction at Muzhiyanur with the media battery (which undertook an all-night vigil before they were allowed to see the actor) Rajkumar, flanked by his wife Parvathamma, his youngest son Puneet Rajkumar, the several emissaries including P. Nedumaran, and Gopal, told journalists in halting Tamil that he had been treated well by the bandit. He thanked the emissaries and the governments. A hastily prepared helipad at the Singampettai Higher Secondary School playground (10 km from Muzhiyanur) served its purpose with two helicopters requisitioned by the Karnataka government ferrying Rajkumar and Paravathamma, and another ferrying Nagesh, the other hostage, Rajkumar's son Puneet and Govindaraju.

The melee in Muzhiyanur was more than matched by what was to follow in Bangalore. Keeping the crowds and hordes of fans guessing, Rajkumar's helicopter first landed around noon at Bangalore's HAL Airport. The actor, who was received by Chief Minister Kri shna, knelt and kissed the tarmac, paying his respects to Karnataka soil. However, respecting the feelings of his waiting fans and his family, the helicopter took off again to land at the nearby Jakkur airfield. From there it was a short ride to the Stat e Secretariat where he was presented to over 200 journalists.

At the 30-minute-long press conference, Rajkumar spoke emotionally, describing how during his period of captivity his mood would oscillate from sheer helplessness (when he even wondered if he would ever be released) to hope each time an emissary came cal ling, and finally, when he was released, his exhilaration. Rajkumar also recalled that he had been treated well by Veerappan and had a kind word for the human qualities of the brigand. He praised the efforts of Nedumaran, whom he likened to a "mahayogi" and also to the late philosopher-President S. Radhakrishnan. He humorously reminisced about the "coming and going" of Nakkheeran Gopal, and was caustic when he recollected the escape of Nagappa, another hostage ("he ran away but we were caught and our hands tied behind our backs"). The actor said that they had changed camp 50 to 60 times. Rarely did the group stay at the same place for more than two or three days.

Rajkumar also met over a hundred legislators and said a few words to the waiting crowd both at the Secretariat and outside his residence.

In Chennai, the news of Rajkumar's release reached top Tamil Nadu politicians attending the wedding of the daughter of Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam leader Vaiko around 9-30 a.m. on November 15. A visibly relieved Karunanidhi later told reporter s: "Rajkumar thanked me and I expressed my happiness." He added: "Rajkumar stayed in the forests for more than three months. I joked that Lord Rama spent 14 years in the forests. He said he would come to Chennai a couple of days later."

In a press statement later the Chief Minister said that Krishna and he had pursued an "extraordinarily cautious and careful approach" in order to ensure that there was "not even a small strain in the relationship among Tamils in Karnataka and Kannadigas in Tamil Nadu, and that every day of the last three months passed off peacefully." He likened their approach to the careful removal of a piece of cloth fallen on a cluster of thorns.

THERE is considerable speculation on the exact circumstances surrounding the actor's final release. How did Nedumaran and his group of emissaries get into the picture? Why was Gopal sidelined in the final stages and what underlay Veerappan's capitulation on the issue of the release of Rajkumar? Is there is any truth in talk about large sums of money having changed hands?

The Tamil Nadu government - with tacit approval from Chief Minister Krishna - on October 10 enlisted the help of the known pro-LTTE activist Nedumaran and two human rights activists, P. Kalyani and G. Sugumaran, to go into the forest along with Gopal as part of the negotiating team. Amidst opposition to the choice of the emissaries from Congress(I) president Sonia Gandhi, and the Tamil Maanila Congress (TMC) and the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) in Tamil Nadu, the four official emis saries met Veerappan. They were able to convince him to release an ailing S.A. Govindaraj, Rajkumar's son-in-law, on October 16. But Rajkumar's release was still weeks away.

Nedumaran's inclusion - as demanded by Veerappan - was a subject of controversy with the Karnataka government even attempting to deny any knowledge of his role. Attacks from Opposition parties in Tamil Nadu over the continuing involvement of Nedumaran, e ven saw him refusing to leave on what was to be the sixth mission.

According to Tamil groups, Nedumaran was chosen because of his influence with the Tamil militant friends of Veerappan. Nedumaran went because Veerappan specifically asked for Nedumaran, Kalyani and Sugumaran to be sent. But for Krishna it was a Hobson's choice. He could not be seen hobnobbing with a known LTTE sympathiser but he also had to clutch at any straw that came his way to try and end the hostage crisis.

The sixth mission, undertaken by Nedumaran minus Gopal but with a handful of others, proved fruitful. Accompanying Nedumaran, Kalyani and Sugumaran, were Kolathur T. S. Mani, another known supporter of the LTTE (he is said to have allegedly lent his farm lands near Mettur, Tamil Nadu, to the LTTE for the terrorist organisation's training camps during 1983-84), Dr. Bhanu, a businesswoman from Bangalore dealing in granite, A. P. Shanmugasundaram, a transport operator from Bangalore, and R. Ramkumar, son of former Karnataka Director-General of Police (DGP) R. Ramalingam and currently a business associate of Bhanu. According to Kolathur Mani, who confessed also to being on the fifth mission, word had come from Veerappan's men during the first week of Novemb er that Rajkumar would be released on November 13.

The successful sixth mission was in part the brainchild of Shanmugasu-ndaram who is also the president of the 'Karnataka Tamil Federation'. He was able to convince Nedumaran to undertake the mission and also work out plans for it by roping in some like-m inded people from Bangalore, but without involving Gopal. According to him, the possibility of a communal flare-up if something untoward should happen to Rajkumar and the failure of Gopal's missions prompted him to plead with Nedumaran to undertake the s ixth mission.

NAKKHEERANNakkheeran

Rajkumar's release became a fait accompli because of the "credibility that I commanded in the issue" and the fact that Veerappan "trusted the assurances I gave him", according to Nedumaran, who is the president of the Tamil Nationalist Movement.

Nedumaran, who persuaded Veerappan to free Rajkumar after two trips into the forests, said at a press conference in Chennai on November 17 that he assured Veerappan that he would initiate legal steps with regard to Veerappan's two important demands: the release of seven cadres of the Tamil Nadu Liberation Army (TNLA) and the Tamil National Retrieval Force (TNRF) from prisons in Tamil Nadu, and the release of 51 detainees under the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act, or TADA, at the Cen tral Prison, Mysore. "We explained to Veerappan that the two State governments have conceded some of his demands. We told him how some could be conceded and others could not be conceded. We told him how the rest could be tackled by legal means. We said w e would take responsibility for this (for taking legal action). Veerappan, therefore, released Rajkumar."

According to Shanmugasundaram, Nedumaran, even while explaining to Veerappan that no one else could do anything in matters which are pending before the law courts, assured Veerappan that if the governments backtracked on any of the promises made to him ( Veerappan) they (Nedumaran and others on the mission) "would take the democratic route and launch protests so that the promises were fulfilled".

Veerappan is also said to have been "pleased when he heard that a conference to highlight the atrocities committed by Special Task Force personnel on villagers and tribals would be held at Kolathur on November 26". Incidentally, the conference, which acc ording to Shanmugasu-ndaram will be presided over by Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer, is being held on the birthday of LTTE supremo Velupillai Prabakaran. No coincidence this.

NEDUMARAN and his team were quietly confident about winning Rajkumar's freedom as they set out on their mission from Chennai on November 11 evening. "Everything was pre-arranged," sources said. The team's confidence was not without basis. Pattali Makkal Katchi (PMK) founder Dr. S. Ramadoss handed over a letter to Sugumaran. In it Ramadoss asked Veerappan to set Rajkumar free for the sake of Tamilians living in Karnataka, and assured Veerappan that he would handle the issue of release of the TADA detaine es in Mysore and the five TNLA/TNRF cadres.

According to Shanmugasundaram, who joined Nedumaran, Kalyani and Sugumaran along the way, they were waiting near Andhiyur when they received a message from Veerappan to meet him. They entered the forests on November 12 night escorted by one of Veerappan' s men and reached the brigand's hideout the next morning.

Veerappan handed over the actor and Nagesh to Nedumaran around 5 p.m. on November 14. He gave a gift to Rajkumar and also draped an "angavastram" round the actor's shoulders. Dr. Bhanu later examined Rajkumar and gave him some medicines. The entire team left the forests with Rajkumar and Nagesh the same evening and reached Andhiyur around 9 p.m. They stayed in the farmhouse of a friend of Kolathur Mani at Muzhiyanur for the night. Rajkumar relished a non-vegetarian meal that night. The next morning, the news reached Chennai and Bangalore.

Theories abound over the reasons for Rajkumar's release. Was a deal struck with promises made to Veerappan? Was a huge sum of money paid out as ransom? Was Veerappan (as Rajkumar initially confessed after his release) tricked into it? Or was Veerappan si mply tired of the whole thing and was beginning to find the hostages a liability and restriction? Tamil groups from Bangalore and those involved with the sixth mission, however, cite just one reason - Nedumaran's credibility and influence over the brigan d and more so his (Veerappan's) Tamil militant friends. The release was also dictated by the Supreme Court which barred the release of TADA detainees at Mysore and the five extremists in prisons in Tamil Nadu. An informed police officer said the court ha s been very firm that they could not hold Rajkumar. What purpose does it serve?

Working in tandem with Shanmuga-sundaram was another Bangalore-based organisation, the Rainbow Forum. The six-year-old organisation, which has as its chief patron a former Karnataka DGP, T. Srinivasulu, also played a vital part in convincing Nedumaran to undertake the final mission. According to the president of the Forum, B.G. Koshy, they had "warned Nedumaran that there would be problems" for the Tamil population in Bangalore if Rajkumar was not freed. Koshy said: "Gopal's credentials were insufficien t to convince Veerappan. That is why Gopal's missions failed. Gopal could not deliver on any promises made to Veerappan. That is why Nedumaran had to go in." According to Koshy, the police intelligence networks in both States were aware of their moves.

Commenting on the presence of a doctor and that too a woman in the team, Kolathur Mani said that it was decided that a doctor would be taken since Rajkumar's health had caused concern. "Rajkumar has a history of blood pressure and he could have got over- excited at the prospect of being released, so we did not want to take a chance. We needed someone who was not afraid and was willing. She also had the advantage of being used to unfriendly terrain." Bhanu brought in Ramkumar.

Just prior to the sixth mission, unconfirmed but reliable sources averred that Bhanu and two others, Ramkumar and Kolathur Mani, had visited Veerappan's camp. Bhanu, however, told Frontline that she had visited the forest only once - that is, alon g with the team of emissaries.

There is another version that Rajkumar was released on November 13 itself. The two hostages spent most of their first two days of freedom resting inside the forests. The wait in the forest was to allow Veerappan and his friends enough time to get away. I t was only after trekking some 5 km after nightfall on November 14 that they reached a road-head, where a car was waiting. A ride of around seven or 8 km on the Satyamangalam-Mysore road brought them past the town of Bannari by midnight, from where the h ostages were taken to Muzhiyanur, 45 km from Erode on the Erode-Mettur road and to the house of Bhoothapadi panchayat president U.A. Ramraja.

At his press conference, Nedumaran released a joint statement (in Tamil) from Veerappan; Maran, TNLA leader; and Amudhan of the TNRF, on why they had "arrested" Rajkumar but ultimately set him free. They said, "We arrested the actor to drive home to the State governments the demands of the Tamilians in Tamil Nadu affected by the atrocities of the STF and the plight of the Tamilians in Karnataka." They called it a "shock treatment to the rotten state machinery." The trio said they chose to "arrest" Rajku mar because he commanded the abhimaan (prestige) of the "Kannada fanatics who attacked and murdered Tamilians in the 1991 riots in Karnataka relating to the Cauvery issue." It was done to pressure the Karnataka Government to provide protection to the Tamilians in Karnataka, they added. They claimed "victory in this because the message has reached the people."

Veerappan, Maran and Amudhan described themselves as "militants and not abductors" and said they "loved the Tamil nation." They said they had treated Rajkumar and other hostages in a humane manner and gave them whatever facility was possible in the diffi cult circumstances that obtained in the forest. "Let the people of the country compare our treatment of these people with the treatment of those caught in the grip of the police and the Karnataka government," they said.

When a reporter asked Nedumaran whether there was any "deal" behind Rajkumar's release, an angry Nedumaran objected to the use of the word. He snapped: "The rescue of Rajkumar is not a commercial bargain. This is a humanitarian problem, and we approached it humanely."

He denied that the abduction would give a boost to militancy in Tamil Nadu. On the other hand, the release would give "a boost to human rights organisations all over the country". He also denied that Veerappan was being manipulated by the TNLA and the TN RF. Veerappan was acting on his own. He never ill-treated Rajkumar.

Asked why he did not take Gopal with him, he said Gopal could not reach the spot in time when they (Nedumaran and his team) were waiting near the forests for the call from Veerappan. Since they did not want to delay their entry into the forests, they wen t in. Gopal joined them when they were returning with Rajkumar, he said.

Karunanidhi said that the two States were "greatly indebted" to Gopal and his team, and to Nedumaran and his team. Nakkheeran Gopal and his team have been, right from the beginning, evincing interest and concern" in obtaining Rajkumar's release an d they had to face a number of hardships in their venture, Karunanidhi said. He added that Nedumaran and his team showed similar concern and interest in the final phase and secured Rajkumar's release.

But for the first press conference that he gave on his return, Rajkumar has been incommunicado, evidently owing to the stress and emotional strains of three months in captivity. Rajkumar has already made a few public faux pas - the most intriguing being the role he ascribed to Dr. Bhanu. What he first said that she led him into feigning an illness thereby pressuring Veerappan to release him, he later denied this.

When asked by Frontline on November 20 on what he planned to do next on the Veerappan issue, Krishna said in Bangalore that his government is "committed to cleansing Karnataka's forests of criminals and anti-social elements." The STF operations, a ccording to him, were already activated. He also strongly denied rumours of a payoff to Veerappan.

The Rajkumar kidnapping story is over. To the extent, however, that he still has a relatively free run of the forests in which he operates, the real story of Veerappan is indeed just beginning.

A.P. Shanmugasundaram, a Tamilian based in Bangalore and one of the six persons who were present when Veerappan released Rajkumar, makes no bones about his sympathies for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Now a transport contractor, the 57-year-old Shanmugasundaram, who was born in Erode district, is settled in Bangalore since 1956. He played a major role in roping in P. Nedumaran to negotiate the release of Rajkumar. Shanmugasu-ndaram spoke to Ravi Sharma about why he joined th e efforts to get Rajkumar released and on what happened in the forest as Veerappan set free the hostages.

Excerpts from the interview:

Why did you get involved in the efforts to free Rajkumar?

We did not want a repeat of the Cauvery riots of 1991 when Tamilians living in Karnataka were targeted for attack in the violence instigated by the Bangarappa government. Rajkumar is an elderly man with blood pressure problems. Had something happened to him, the government would not have been able to control the situation and Tamilians in Karnataka would have been affected.

But Nakkheeran Gopal was already on the job...

Gopal had gone in three times. Though it was not his fault, he could not succeed. He did not even want to go on the fourth mission, but undertook it only after (Chief Minister) Karunanidhi forced him. I and some like-minded people thought of who else sho uld go. So on September 27 we met Nedumaranayya in Chennai, since he, being a selfless, honest politician who had been taking up the cause of Tamilians, fitted the bill. He agreed to intervene. After some hesitation, Kolathur Mani, realising that the Cau very riots could be repeated , also agreed to meet Veerappan.

Where you part of the fifth mission?

No. Since it was felt that five people were enough, I did not go. Nedumaranayya, Mani, Kalyani, Sugumaran and Gopal went. After two days of negotiations they came out and handed over Rajkumar's son-in-law Govindaraju to me and asked me to take him to Ban galore.

What about the sixth mission?

Kolathur Mani got a message through an emissary of Veerappan asking us to come on November 13. So we met at, the name of the town I cannot tell you, and entered the forests on the evening of November 13. We walked some miles, then slept in an open place. The next morning (November 14) we resumed our journey, and after walking for about three hours we met Veerappan. Tea was served and then Nedumaranayya and Veerappan sat and started the negotiations. We were also there. Veerappan's demands were discussed point by point. Nedumaranayya told Veerappan that since he trusted us (the negotiators) and freed Rajkumar, we would, in the event of the two governments failing to deliver on the promises made to Veerappan, do what has to be done in a democratic, non- violent way to fulfil these demands. After lunch he (Veerappan) left us, by about 5 p.m.

Rajkumar said that Dr. Bhanu had tricked Veerappan into believing that Rajkumar was sick...

For Rajkumar, who was in Veerappan's custody for so many days, even seeing a Kannada-speaking person was like seeing God. When he saw a lady doctor he called her an 'Adishakti' and a 'devi'. He did not realise what he was saying because he was overcome w ith emotion. For Rajkumar it was as if Dr. Bhanu gave him a new lease of life. He even asked Dr. Bhanu to accompany him in the helicopter.

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