Yielding to Veerappan

Frontline: "Dinakar's 318-page book says that the ransom was paid in instalments: Rs.5 crores each on two occasions by Krishna through his son-in-law V.G. Siddhartha; Rs.5 crores by Krishna through the then Deputy Inspector-General of Police T. Jayaprakash (who is now IGP, Intelligence), which was handed over to a contact in Erode (Tamil Nadu); Rs.1 crore sent by Rajkumar's wife Parvathamma to Chennai and handed over at the then Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi's house; Rs.2 crores handed over personally by Parvathamma to Bhanu, one of the emissaries to Veerappan, at the latter's residence in Bangalore; and Rs.2 crores collected by members of the film industry and handed over at Karunanidhi's house in Chennai. According to Dinakar, another Rs.22 lakhs provided to secure bail for the TADA detainees was not utilised since the Supreme Court rejected their bail appeal.
Dinakar has said that investigations by the Tamil Nadu Crime Branch Criminal Investigation Department (CB-CID) showed that a chunk of the ransom money was embezzled by R.R. Gopal, Editor of the Tamil magazine Nakkeeran. Gopal, who met with the brigand and played the role of an emissary on more than one occasion, did not venture into the forest during the Rajkumar abduction after initial contacts with Veerappan.

Whatever the merits or demerits of the book, it leaves many questions to be answered with regard to the modus operandi of the government vis-a-vis with relation to the Rajkumar episode. For example, if money was paid, why did Krishna, and not the Rajkumar family, pay the money? Where did the money come from? Did intermediaries pocket chunks of the ransom money (Veerappan is alleged to have complained to Bhanu about Gopal's alleged misappropriation) ? Why did Krishna not call for police action against Veerappan immediately after Rajkumar was released (it was nearly a week before the STF started operations again)? The Tamil Nadu CB-CID claims that it recovered written evidence from Veerappan's kith and kin showing that Rs.25 crores was received as ransom. Where did this extra Rs.5 crores come from? Was it given without the knowledge of Dinakar? If, as alleged by his own DG & IGP, Krishna did pay a ransom, did he take his Cabinet colleagues into confidence? Did Krishna inform his party and party president Sonia Gandhi?

Krishna's initial reaction was reconciliatory, offering the bandit a "fair and free'' trial if he surrendered. The Cabinet went a step further by deciding to drop the cases against the bandit. The decision could have become a legal embarrassment for the Krishna government, as had a similar move in 2000 following the abduction of Kannada actor Rajkumar. The government then attempted, as had been demanded by Veerappan, to drop the Terrorist and Disruptive Activities (Prevention) Act or TADA proceedings against 51 of the alleged associates of the bandit. The Supreme Court came down heavily on the move, terming it "not good in law'' and not in keeping with the requirements of Section 321 of the CrPC, which allows the prosecution to withdraw cases against accused persons under certain provisions. The court termed the government's move "a package deal''.

The move to drop cases was initially opposed also by retired Karnataka police officer Abdul Kareem whose son, Inspector of Police Shakeel Ahmed, was gunned down by the Veerappan gang in 1993. Kareem, who had successfully thwarted the Government's move in 2000 by filing a public interest petition in the Supreme Court, threatened to oppose judicially the move, calling it "a surrender to the blackmail of an elusive bandit''. He was, however, cajoled not to do so by the Nagappa family and Lingayat leaders. Kareem relented after a 10-minute conversation with Krishna."