On **18th February 1970,**at a rocky place in the middle of a jungle in North Kerala,a captured Naxalite guerilla was forced to stand on a rock.A policeman aimed his gun at his chest and fired a shot and there ended the life of a naxalite .His name was Mr.Vargheese.A staunch communist supporter who later turned a naxalite (maoist) who fought for the rights of the lower class people and tribals,who carried out attacks on both fuedal landlords and police personnel ,has been shot to limelight these days also.Right after his death in 1970,there were cries of foulplay behind his death.Though the Police and the Government during those days had denied about his execution(they had claimed that he was killed in an encounter,though there had been many witness to his surrender and subsequent transporation to a police camp),many had every reason to believe that he was executed .
A twist to the story came when almost after thirty years the policeman who had fired at Mr.Varghese came out in open and told the entire world that he was forced to execute Mr.Varghese and his action was the result of a compulsion by the police chiefs who were heading the police force of that area. Then followed a C.B.I inquiry,as directed by a court and the verdict has come out today.(The policeman who had shot him died a few years ago but that did not alter the course of the case)
Two senior police officers who are in their 80’s now ,were booked but one got acquitted on the grounds of benifit of doubt but the other one has been found guilty.His sentence will come out tomorrow.
The moral of the thread is..Truth can not be hidden forever…
Shows just how he ended…
.‘Before I am killed, give me a signal so I can shout a slogan’
After combing the Thirunelli forests for two days, the Central Reserve Police Force posse set up camp near a local temple. They had sighted Varghese and his comrades winding their way through the trees the day before. But the Naxalites had given them the slip, setting off a country bomb in their wake which left a constable badly injured.
The next morning, the police received a tip-off that Varghese was holed up in a house occupied by one Sivaraman Nair, who served as caretaker to an elderly widow called Ittichiri Manayamma, a known ally of the Naxalites.
The police team approached the house and rapped on the front door. ‘Who’s there?’ asked a voice from within. The police announced their presence. The voice ranged out: ‘Nair, have you betrayed me?’ The cops stormed the door and entered. Varghese stood with his arms up in the air. He smiled: ‘Don’t worry. I’m alone and unarmed.’ The Naxalite leader was led out, wrists bound with a rifle sling, and bundled into a jeep.
Thirty minutes down the road, en route to Manathavady, they were joined by a convoy of police vehicles. Constable Ramachandran Nair says he recognised DSP Lekshmana and DIG Vijayan in one of the jeeps.
‘‘Varghese turned to us,’’ Nair recalls. ‘They are going to kill me,’ he told us. ‘One of you will have to do it. I have one request. Before I am killed, give me a signal so that I can shout a slogan.’ He was so calm when he said that.‘’’
It was 1400 hours. A cop walked up to Varghese and blindfolded him. The policemen settled down to eat. Constabtle Nair shared his food with the prisoner. He also offered him a bidi. At 1830 hours, Lekshmana addressed the constables guarding the Naxalite leader. Nair recreates the sequence of events: ‘‘Lekshamana told us that Varghese was going to be shot. DIG Vijayan was standing nearby. Then Lekshmana ordered those of us who were willing to shoot Varghese to raise their hands. Rappai and Sreedharan raised their hands. Haneefa hesitated but finally raised his. I did not.’’
The prisoner should be produced in court, Nair reasoned with his superior. ‘‘Lekshmana reminded me that policemen could die in accidents. I recognised the threat. Varghese was going to die anyway. If I died, my family would be helpless,’’ Nair ended his resistance.
The dissenter was then chosen to perform the deed. Nair looked at his target. He winces at the memory: ‘‘Varghese was sitting between two rocks. He was calm but alert, as though he was waiting for something to happen and wondering why it wasn’t happening. I went up to him and rested the nozzle of my rifle on the left side on his chest. Then I remembered his request. I sounded a signal with my tongue. ‘Long live the revolution,’ he shouted and I pulled the trigger. He fell over.’’
Another cop then fired a shot in the air and put the weapon in Varghese’s lifeless hand. The encounter death was complete.