| |
CRIME, VEERAPPAN
Pardon This Man?
When
it comes to amnesty, the two state governments may not find it easy to
drop the charges against him. At least a jail term seems imminent for
the brigand.
By
Vijay Jung Thapa
with
Vaasanthi and
Stephen David
In
October 1997, when Veerappan had taken six hostages, Professor Mohan Isaac,
head of psychiatry at Bangalore's National Institute of Mental Health
and Neurosciences, had analysed the "bandit king". His impression:
"The man's strength lies in his unpredictability. Someone who has
an element of surprise in abundance." 
Things
haven't changed in August 2000. While the world and its uncle were expecting
Veerappan to demand general amnesty and a fat rehabilitation package in
return for Kannada superstar Rajkumar, he astonished everyone by listing
a string of demands that would shame a hard-core Tamil activist. There
was pandemonium as officials from Tamil Nadu and Karnataka tried to address
these new demands -- and ended up accepting most of them. "The man
never ceases to surprise. But there has to be another set of demands,
either secret or to be put forward later," asserts a top Karnataka
police official.
|
FREEDOM
FORMULA
Veerappan wants history repeated
|
|
MALKHAN
SINGH: 1982
The
King of the Chambal ravines had 113 cases against him, 17 involving
murder. Surrendered in June 1982 on condition that he would spend
only eight years in jail. It was made clear that no cases would
be withdrawn nor a presidential pardon given. Served out the term
during which all charges against him were dismissed.
PHOOLAN
DEVI: 1983
Hit
headlines after her gang massacred 20 Thakurs in Behmai village
of Uttar Pradesh in February 1981. There were 56 cases against her
when she surrendered in February 1983. Was to serve eight years
in jail. No cases were withdrawn, nor a Presidential pardon given.
Served 11 years in jail and is still fighting some cases.
HARKAT-UL-ANSAR:
1999
The
ransom demanded by the hijackers of the Indian Airlines Airbus 300
in December last year included the release of three terrorists --
Umar Saeed Sheikh, Mushtaq Ahmed Zargar and Maulana Masood Azhar.
All three had been charged with heinous crimes under the Public
Safety Act and TADA, but had not been convicted. The Government
decided to drop all charges and withdraw all the cases against them.
PURULIA
ACCUSED: 2000
In
January 1996, six Latvian crew members of an aircraft were charged
with dropping arms, including assault rifles and rocket launchers,
over Purulia in West Bengal. They were sentenced to seven years'
imprisonment under the Arms Act and the Explosives Act. Last month,
under pressure from Russia, the Government decided to free them
after a presidential pardon.
|
The latest
twist in the Veerappan saga has managed to keep the enigma alive. Not
many believe that the felon of the forest has suddenly discovered the
Tamil cause. Says Walter I. Davaram, former Tamil Nadu DGP who tried to
hunt down Veerappan for eight long years: "How can he have Tamil
sentiments? Of the 119 people he has killed 64 were Tamilians." Davaram
isn't the only one who is suspicious. Adds Mysore advocate K. Venugopal,
who has represented Veerappan's brother Arjunan, now dead, in the past:
"If ransom and amnesty are not included, they are not his demands.
Someone else is speaking for him." Most experts now believe that
Veerappan has either been influenced or is espousing the cause of fringe
Tamil terrorist groups operating in the forested region that has long
been his hideout. They point out that in the cassette given by Veerappan,
another voice is audible. It has now been identified as that of Maaran,
alias Senguttuvan, the leader of a group called Tamil National Liberation
Army (TNLA).
That's not
all. Most of Veerappan's demands turn out to be long-standing demands
of the TNLA. To list a few: Give more Cauvery water to Tamil Nadu; compensate
the kin of Tamilians who died in the 1991 Cauvery water riots; make Tamil
an additional administrative language in Karnataka; instal the statue
of the Tamil poet Thiruvalluvar in Bangalore; and raise minimum wages
for tea-estate workers in Tamil Nadu. But what really raised suspicions
was the demand for the release of five TADA detenus from Vellore jail.
Two of them belong to the TNLA while the others are from the Tamil Nadu
Retrieval Troops, another terrorist outfit. Police sources say the arrangement
between Veerappan and these fringe ultra groups is logical since it benefits
both. Veerappan, who has been on the run with a vastly reduced gang, finds
more support. And the ultra groups, with Veerappan speaking in their voice,
get heard by the Government.
The demands
also raise the question whether Veerappan's long-term goal is really a
political career. Most police officials in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, who
have spent a career trying to hunt him down, disagree. Amnesty, they say
unanimously, is what Veerappan yearns for. The dacoit who has been romanticised
as part-Robin Hood part-demon now wants to come in from the cold. The
54-year-old man, suffering from asthma and colon diseases has been played
out by the sheer physical hardship of his existence. Moving under cover
all the time, going without food for days, organising and reorganising
his gang while being pursued by the police have taken their toll. But
unfortunately for him, Veerappan may find coming out of the forest just
as difficult.
|
HIS
CHARGESHEET
|
|
Total
cases: 135
Murders: 119
Policemen: 32
Forest officials:10
Civilians: 77
|
For starters,
the word amnesty doesn't even figure in the Criminal Procedure Code (CRPC).
Says Kamini Jaiswal, senior Supreme Court lawyer who represented Phoolan
Devi in 1994: "There is no provision for amnesty. There can be a
presidential pardon, or the Government can withdraw the cases if during
surrender he brokers a deal with it. But there has to be a jail term."
There are precedents. Two well-known dacoits from the ravines of Chambal
-- Malkhan Singh and Phoolan Devi -- surrendered after brokering a deal
with the governments of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. However, both
underwent prison terms -- Malkhan for eight years and Phoolan for 11 --
which was one of the conditions of the surrender. Significantly, in both
cases, prosecution was not withdrawn. During the eight-year prison term,
Malkhan was acquitted of all charges. Phoolan, who was released following
a petition in the Supreme Court, is still fighting her cases in Uttar
Pradesh.
Right now,
Veerappan has 134 cases against him ranging from murder to kidnapping
and extortion. However, he hasn't been convicted in even one. Says Karnataka
police chief C. Dinakar: "If convicted, Veerappan will serve at least
a 70-year concurrent jail sentence -- if not given death penalty."
When Veerappan had demanded amnesty in 1997, he had categorically stated
that he wanted instant freedom, not a jail term. However, the trial of
135 cases could itself take years, during which he will have to be in
custody. Besides, as Justice H.G. Balakrishna, a retired Karnataka High
Court judge, points out, "Amnesty can only be given for political
offence. Veerappan's offences are purely criminal in nature."
Right now,
the only difference between Veerappan and the dacoits Phoolan and Malkhan
is the fact that he holds a prime hostage, Rajkumar. There are precedents
here as well. Earlier this year, three Harkat-ul-Ansar terrorists were
released in exchange for the passengers and crew of a hijacked Indian
Airlines aircraft. All three had been charged with heinous crimes but
not convicted. Here, the Jammu and Kashmir Government was arm-twisted
to withdraw the cases. Last month, six foreign nationals involved in the
Purulia armsdrop case who had been convicted and sentenced were set free
following a diplomatic initiative by Russia. Again, the Government was
arm-twisted and the President urged to pardon them. State Government sources
admit that the legalities of a possible Veerappan surrender are being
worked out -- a safe house that will serve as a jail has even been identified.
However,
legal eagles feel comparing Veerappan's with the Harkat-ul-Ansar and Purulia
cases is tenuous. Firstly, even if the Government decides to withdraw
all the cases it has against the bandit, there are still 77 (out of the
135) private cases to contend with. It won't be easy to convince people
whose family members have been killed by Veerappan to withdraw these cases.
As for presidential pardon, he first has to be arrested, tried, convicted
and sentenced before they can even consider it. Adds Renjith Shaker V.,
a Supreme Court lawyer: "The morality of pardoning a criminal like
Veerappan also has to be taken into consideration."
Clearly,
in the face of such odds it will be difficult for Veerappan to get amnesty.
But as the bandit plays out his endgame from the forest, he will take
relief from the fact that till now he has invariably had the last laugh.
-with
Methil Renuka
Top
|
|
Don't
ask for more funds, demand the right to collect, INDIA TODAY Associate
Editor V. Shankar Aiyar writes to Chandrababu Naidu in 
Read
the 
