Bawaria gang and the 2005 murder of an AIADMK MLA in Tamil Nadu

By the aboriginal hours of January 9, 2005, astir 2 a.m., acheronian had engulfed the constrictive agelong branching disconnected the Grand Northern Trunk Road, besides known arsenic the Kolkata-Chennai National Highway. The villagers of Thanakulam near Periyapalayam, astir 60 km from Chennai, were accelerated asleep, unaware of the information approaching. A afloat covered lorry — HR 38 J 5249 — rolled softly on the deserted roadworthy and halted fractional a kilometre from the village. Six to 8 men climbed down silently from the lorry and moved towards the location astatine the colony entrance. It was the residence of K. Sudarsanam, past a sitting MLA of the AIADMK, and erstwhile Minister.

At 2.15 a.m., with the plaything of an axe, the stillness was shattered. The equipped pack smashed the woody beforehand doorway and stormed inside. Their person stood defender outside, gripping a gun. The pack rapidly climbed the staircase to the archetypal floor. They bolted the country of Sudarsanam’s  elder son, Vijayakumar, who was sleeping inside. They past moved towards the country successful which his 2nd son, K.S. Sathish Kumar, was asleep. They shattered the solid panes of the room’s model and done the gap, rained blows connected Mr. Sathish Kumar with blunt robust rods.

When his wife, Geetha, rushed forward, 1 of the men twisted her near limb until she cried retired successful pain. Their eight-year-old girl clung to the attackers’ legs, begging them not to wounded her father. But the pack ignored her pleas, continued assaulting Sathish Kumar and Geetha, and ripped jewellery disconnected Geetha’s body astatine knifepoint.

Stepping retired with sickle

Awakened by the commotion, Sudarsanam, sleeping with his woman successful a country connected the crushed floor, stepped retired carrying a sickle. The infinitesimal the assailants saw the weapon, they fired a .12-bore circular into the close broadside of his chest. He collapsed and died instantly. The pack past made its mode done his bedroom, the pooja room, and the country adjacent to the kitchen. They broke unfastened almirahs, overturned beds, and looted astir 60 sovereigns of golden jewellery. Three women — Jayamal  (Sudarsanam’s wife), Thatchayani (his mother-in-law), and Neela (the household maid) — were near unharmed but terrified.

Recalling the incident, Mr. Sathish Kumar said, “I heard the dependable of my country doorway being struck aggregate times and looked done the window. I saw six to 7 persons trying to interruption in. I held the doorway tightly from down but couldn’t halt them. They broke the model adjacent to the doorway and attacked maine with an robust rod done the opening. A stroke to my near enarthrosis made maine suffer balance. They entered the country and I had fainted. After 10 to 15 days of treatment, I was told that my begetter had been changeable dead.”

Hearing the family’s screams, villagers gathered extracurricular the bound partition and hurled stones astatine the dacoits. The pack fired a circular astatine the assemblage and escaped into the darkness, boarding the lorry parked fractional a kilometre away.

Tiruvallur Superintendent of Police V. Vardharaju rushed to the scene, cordoned disconnected the area, and summoned his team. “The nationalist had gathered successful ample numbers by them. The transgression country was chaotic, with bloodstains everywhere. Our occupation was to support the scene. A brace of chappals used by the accused and an bare slug ammunition were recovered,” helium said.

The dacoity and execution shook the full State. Special teams were formed nether Inspector-General of Police (North) S.R. Jangid. Deputy Superintendents of Police V. Jayakumar (Thirukoilur), M. Sudhakar  (Madhavaram), C. Vijay Kumar (Tiruvallur), and Ara. Arul Arasu (Hosur) joined the investigation. Mr. Vardharaju said that arsenic the probe began, they noticed a akin signifier successful respective different road dacoities successful the State. Working with Cuddalore SP Davidson Devasirvatham, the squad mapped the crimes.

Decade of dacoity

For astir 10 years, a drawstring of dacoities involving murders and grievous assaults — each with a akin modus operandi — had been reported crossed Tamil Nadu. Between 1995 and 2005, 24 specified incidents had occurred on the National Highway from the Tiruvallur-Andhra Pradesh borderline to the Krishnagiri-Karnataka border, resulting successful 13 deaths and 63 superior injuries. Chance fingerprints were lifted astatine galore scenes, but determination were nary matches successful constabulary records. Similar offences successful Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka remained unsolved.

“The pack spoke lone successful Hindi portion committing the crimes. Words similar Chabi doh [Give the key) and Chup raho [Keep quiet] were used. It was wide that this radical was from northbound India,” said Thillai Natarajan, erstwhile probe serviceman successful the Periyapalayam case.

The pack archetypal struck successful Tamil Nadu connected June 7, 1995, astatine the location of M. Mohan Kumar astatine Walajapet, past portion of Vellore district. It killed him, earnestly injured his woman and 2 children, and stole jewellery and currency worthy implicit ₹50,000. The lawsuit was closed arsenic undetectable 3 years later. The pursuing year, the pack struck again successful the aforesaid town, astatine different house. After a five-year gap, the pack resurfaced successful 2001, committing a large dacoity astatine Avinashi, followed by 3 much robberies successful Dharmapuri and Salem districts.

Their crimes surged successful 2002, with 8 dacoities reported successful Salem, Avinashi, Kangeyam, Gummidipoondi, Athur, Kariamangalam, Burgur, and Sriperumbudur. The astir sensational was successful Salem connected September 12, 2002, erstwhile they killed Congress functionary Thalamuthu Natarajan  and his watchman Gopal and injured six others. A Sub-Inspector reportedly saw the pack locomotion distant but failed to act. They walked 2 kilometres, boarded a lorry, and vanished.

In 2003, they struck astatine 4 locations and committed murders astatine 3 of them: Sholavaram, Walajapet and Natrampalli. In 2004, they targeted Thiruverkadu, Vellavedu, Sriperumbudur, and Thiruvalam. In Thiruverkadu, location proprietor Gajendran was changeable dead, his watchman murdered, and 2 others were injured. In Sriperumbudur, they slammed a 14-year-old miss against a wall.

The breakthrough

Mr. Jangid said that going by the modus operandi, investigators suspected the engagement of northbound Indian transgression gangs but could not place immoderate pack successful particular. Teams visited Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, and Madhya Pradesh, ruling retired transgression tribes successful those regions. They past focused connected Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Delhi, and Punjab, arsenic probe pointed to similarities with the Bawaria gang’s modus operandi.

“Initially, it was a chaotic goose chase. Every pb was pursued. Fingerprint experts travelled with the teams carrying the accidental prints lifted from scenes. Police records successful these States were checked,” Mr. Jangid said. A large situation was that constabulary forces successful Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Punjab, and Rajasthan did not regularly sphere the fingerprints oregon support the elaborate records of hardened criminals.

The breakthrough came connected February 1, 2005, erstwhile Inspector of Police (Fingerprints) Dhanancheliyan, who was portion of the Uttar Pradesh team, recovered that 4 accidental prints matched a thumb content recorded successful 1996 successful the registry of transit prisoners astatine Agra Central Jail. The people belonged to Laxman alias Ashok, a Bawaria criminal from Chandanpura  colony successful Bharatpur district, Rajasthan. He was linked to six dacoities successful Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh.

Tamil Nadu Police teams camped successful the portion for days and arrested the criminals. They seized a expanse from a schoolgirl’s notebook containing telephone numbers of pack members. Call records and confessions of an accused successful Rajasthan confirmed the engagement of Bawaria gang members from Haryana and Rajasthan.

The Bawarias were among the astir convulsive transgression groups, operating chiefly astatine nighttime on highways. Their lorries had concealed chambers to fell weapons. They parked their vehicles adjacent roadside eateries and walked 4 oregon 5 kilometres to homes they had targeted, smashing doors with stones oregon alloy rods and unleashing brutal, unprovoked violence.

Thirteen persons were yet arrested, including Omprakash Bawaria alias Oma, 55, of Ghargot village successful Faridabad district (Haryana), the pack leader; his member Jagadish; Laxman; Rakesh alias Kuttu; Anguri; Jaildar Singh alias Lali Master, a schoolteacher; and 3 women. Two pack members were killed successful an brushwood adjacent Meerut.

Courts aboriginal convicted respective of them, including Oma and Ashok, successful 4 cases, including the murders of a Walajapet doctor and Sudarsanam. In 2006, Oma and Laxman received the decease punishment successful the Walajapet case, portion others were fixed beingness imprisonment. The High Court aboriginal commuted the decease sentences. Oma died successful Vellore Central Prison, and 3 others continued to service beingness terms.

32 persons named

In the Sudarsanam murder case, 32 persons were named successful the chargesheet filed by the Periyapalayam police connected September 18, 2006. Of them, 22 were astatine large. Oma and Boora died during trial, and 1 was treated arsenic a juvenile. Seven were tried, but the lawsuit was aboriginal divided aft 3 women jumped bail. The proceedings yet proceeded against Jagadish, Rakesh, Laxman, and Jaildar. Additional Public Prosecutor D. Maharajan said the prosecution examined 66 witnesses and produced 52 exhibits and worldly objects, including 2 country-made guns and 2 lorries utilized by the accused.

The 4 men were brought to the XV Additional Sessions Court astatine Singaravelar Maligai under choky information connected November 24 this year. Judge L. Abraham Lincoln held that the eight-year-old child, who had held the attackers’ legs and pleaded with them not to harm her father, had intelligibly seen their faces and credibly identified them. He noted that the fingerprint expert’s grounds corroborated the eyewitness accounts and supported the prosecution’s case. “The prosecution has produced unassailable grounds against the accused, and the defence has not raised immoderate superior uncertainty astir the credibility of the witnesses,” helium said.

However, the tribunal recovered that the prosecution had “miserably failed” to beryllium the engagement of Jaildar or nexus him to the pack done admissible evidence. He was acquitted. The remaining 3 were sentenced to 4 to 5 beingness presumption nether Sections 397 (robbery oregon dacoity with effort to origin decease oregon grievous hurt) and 396 (dacoity with murder) of the Indian Penal Code, and for amerciable possession of arms and ammunition. They volition stay successful situation for the remainder of their life.

The sedate dacoities committed by the Bawaria gang came to an extremity a fewer years agone and justice, adjacent if limited, was served. However, respective pack members stay astatine ample and proceed to evade proceedings successful pending cases.