The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : A morale boost for police force

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, Dec 18, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

A morale boost for police force

By S. Vijay Kumar

MADURAI, DEC. 17. It was months of strenuous efforts and shrewd intelligence that led to the gunning down of the notorious Muslim fundamentalist, Imam Ali, and four others. The daring operation in the heart of Bangalore city on September 29, 2002, made the Tamil Nadu police proud as the most-wanted militant was shot dead.

The accelerated promotions and prize money announced for the special team that tracked down the militants after a six-month chase is seen as a morale booster to the police force in this part of the State. A majority of the dozen police personnel involved in the operation were drawn from the Madurai city police.

A couple of days after Imam Ali and Hyder Ali were rescued from police custody following a shootout by an armed gang on March 7, 2002, at the Tirumangalam (Taluk) police station, the case was handed over to the Special Investigation Team.

The then Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime and Traffic), M. Shakeel Akther, who was handpicked for the special operation, formed his own team with the special sanction of the Director-General of Police. The team comprised one Assistant Commissioner of Police, three inspectors, one sub-inspector and a few others.

The team spent sleepless nights chasing Imam Ali and his associates and played a crucial role in the arrest of a majority of accused persons in the case. Following intelligence information, the team camped at several places, including Thiruvananthapuram and Allahabad.

It was in the first week of September 2002 that they got the first cue of the prime accused holed up in Bangalore. Mobile phone interception further helped the Madurai police to pinpoint the hideout of the culprits in the Sanjay Nagar police station limits. With the assistance of the Special Task Force, Mr. Shakeel Akther and the Coimbatore Range Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Ashutosh Shukla, led the storming operation, which hardly lasted 15 minutes.

Though the Government initially disbursed a gallantry medal and Rs. 25,000 as cash award to the police officials, the post-Veerappan operation bonanza for the STF personnel prompted the Director-General of Police to propose accelerated promotions and prize money for the Imam Ali hunters as well.

The Government in its order, vide C. No. 209175/Medal/1(2)/2004, has granted the accelerated promotion and cash award to the handful of police and STF personnel who took part in the Imam Ali encounter.

In Madurai, the Karimedu inspector, V. Subbaraj, the Vilakkuthoon inspector, S. Balasubramanian, and the Security Branch (Crime Investigation Department) SI, S. Jayachandran, will be among those getting the reward from the Chief Minister at the medal parade proposed to be held in Chennai on December 22.

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