Murder of innocents:
The kidnap and murder of two innocent boys, Sudheendra (20) son of a rich Hunsur hardware merchant Mohan Kumar, proprietor of Ashoka Traders and Vighnesh (20), son of Srinath, owner of G. V. Traders, a provision store, both 2nd BBM students of Mahajana College, Mysore, is most foul. The manner they were killed was most brutal. Starving, dehydration, administration of sleeping tablets, and the unkindest cut of all — stabbing. Only a beast, a beast in human form, can commit such a heinous, inhuman crime.

If the kidnappers were looking for a huge ransom of Rs. 5 crore from the father of Sudheendra, the rich merchant, Vignesh, the son of a provision store owner, became an unwitting victim of circumstances for being with Sudheendra, a close friend. The reason could be the fear that he might give information if not picked up along with Sudheendra. This is called fate, destiny, vidhi.

Did the local Hunsur Police falter and fail?
The students were kidnapped on Wednesday, 8th June 2011 at about 1.30 pm. The Police were wasting time in registering the complaint, arguing about the jurisdiction — whether it is Hunsur or Mysore? One call to the Big Boss and the decision could have been taken. Afraid to call the boss?

On Friday the 10th of June 2011, the kidnappers had sent a letter to Sudheendra's father Mohan Kumar through a KSRTC bus driver in Madikeri, Kodagu.

As soon as the bus left Madikeri at about 1.45 pm, an unidentified person telephoned Mohan Kumar in Urdu - mixed Kannada, asking him to collect the letter from the said bus and the call was cut. Bus arrived at 3. 45 pm. After informing the Police, as per the advice of Mohan Kumar's relative, local Congress MLA H. P. Manjunath, he went and collected the letter.

Instead of taking the driver into quiet confidence, the Police in their show of foolish bravado, took the bus driver into custody, seized the bus and proceeded with him to Madikeri as if the fellow, an utter stranger to the driver, would be waiting for the Police or the driver. It is obvious the kidnappers must have come to know that the matter has come to the knowledge of the Police.

The Police at Hunsur should have realized the sensitivity of kidnap cases, specially for ransom. More than tracing and arresting the kidnappers, it is saving the life of the kidnapped that should be their foremost concern. Therefore, the need to go slow on Police action and pursue the trail intelligently, as indeed the way Bangalore City Crime Branch (CCB) Police did, though after the tragedy. Sure enough, they succeeded in catching the murderers, if not in saving the life of the kidnapped.

The cases of kidnap and missing persons should be handled using commonsense and intelligence simultaneously. Sometimes these cases turn - out to be a gold mine to unscrupulous and corrupt Police officials. We often read in newspapers of cases of kidnap and missing (especially in rural areas) ending up in murders. In case of missing, it could in fact be a case of kidnap or enticing, ending up in murder. In missing cases, the murder is often made to appear as a suicide, with the body hanging from a tree. A lightening operation, using commonsense with sincere effort, will surely enable Police to save these innocent lives and also trace the culprits.

Murder most foul, most unjust:
And the students were found brutally murdered on Sunday, 12th June 2011 and their bodies dumped along a main road in Agalagurki village in Chikkaballapur district.

Though the bodies were found, the kidnappers were not found. This tragedy happened despite Mohan Kumar providing several vehicles and ample cash for those going in search of his son. Hunsur Police were still saying they were on the lookout for the murderers, having failed to save the lives of the kidnapped.

The search for the murderers begins:
The Mysore District Police having failed in handling the kidnap case, the Bangalore City Crime Branch (CCB) sleuths land at the Mahajana College from where the students were kidnapped for investigation. This was on Tuesday 14th June 2011. This was two days after the bodies were found.

Journalists put on wrong scent by the clever Police:
The Police, however, should be commended for putting the newshounds and nosey journalists on the wrong trail. The "sources in Bangalore" are the Police with a request not to disclose their names and they tell the journalists that there has been a breakthrough in the case and three are held in Kolkata and the search for another five is on! To make the information sound true and credible, the "Police sources" also tell about the escape route of the kidnappers, the mode of transport they had used etc. All these appeared in cold print on 16th and 17th of June 2011.

Next, the unnamed "Police sources" informed the media that it could be a case of “supari killing” by a Mumbai gang for money or for professional rivalry. Really, who says our Police are not clever, smart and intelligent? Well, they can display all these traits if they want. Just as they say of "political will" if there is a "Police will" our Police can do, can deliver. Probably, the “Police sources” fed the media with this kind of disinformation so that the kidnappers would take it easy in the knowledge that the Police are on the wrong trail. Well, it seems to have worked, no matter the details of arrests are under wraps.

Look at our City Police Commissionerate. Our Police Commissioner should indeed be commended and even rewarded for rescuing the kidnapped Maulvi Fazlur Rehman and arresting the five kidnappers in a lightning secret and intelligent operation. [This case is likely to take a bizarre twist if the report of a Police complaint filed against the Maulvi in Kushalnagar for cheating is true.] Sadly, the Hunsur Police failed miserably in a way that brought disrepute to them. In such cases, more than catching the culprits, it is saving the lives of the kidnapped that is of paramount importance.

Finally the big catch:
And on Wednesday, June 22, 2011, the Home Minister R. Ashok called the media and declared that the CCB had arrested six persons who had allegedly kidnapped and murdered the Hunsur students from near the Bangalore University campus three days ago — that is on Sunday, June 19, 2011.

... and the greatest surprise and shock:
Whoever thought, as the Minister announced, the members of the Karnataka Forum for Dignity are the culprits? We in Mysore had a communal problem because of this organisation in June, 2009. And according to the Police, all the arrested six accused had played an active role during the communal riot. Particularly Adil Pasha alias Adil and Ataulla Khan alias Attu both 23 – year - old. The City Police Commissionerate had performed its duty very intelligently and firmly at that time, thus foiling the attempts of rogue elements in sustaining the disturbance. Now it is most disturbing to learn that these kidnappers and murderers are from our city. How to keep them from harm's way?

SIM cards help Police track...
It is learnt that the kidnappers, after picking up their victims from the park near Mahajana College in the blue Maruti Omni, drove to Rajiv Nagar in city and kept them in the house of one of the arrested, Mohammed Kauser bin Mohammed Qasim, 26, a painting contractor. In order to mislead the Police, just as the Police misled the journalists (!), two from the gang were engaged. Adil Pasha bin Pasha Jaan, 23, a butcher from Hunsur, was asked to make a call demanding ransom from Kengeri near Bangalore while Ataullah Khan, 23, a mobile mechanic from Hunsur, was sent to Krishnagiri to make a similar call. This put the Police in a quandary.

Where are the kidnappers? In Madikeri or Krishnagiri or Kengeri? The kidnappers used the SIM card only once and then threw it away in order to prevent Police from following the trail of the calls. Finally, the Police tracked the house in Rajiv Nagar. It is learnt that from the day the students were kidnapped till the day the bodies were found (from June 8 to June 12) Police had checked 3000 calls originating from the phone towers in and around Hunsur. The Police discovered that out of 40 SIM cards used by the kidnappers, 400 calls had come to Mysore. This helped them to suspect that these calls might be going to Kauser's house in Rajiv Nagar. The information given by Sudheendra's father Mohan Kumar that the first caller from Madikeri spoke in Urdu - mixed Kannada, confirmed the Police suspicion. The rest is a great success in arresting the kidnappers.

The heat is turned on local Police:
Small wonder, how come our City Police or the district Police could not do anything about the case when apparently, the kidnapped boys were housed in Rajiv Nagar? Right under their nose. We hear a lot of whispering in this regard. Anyway, there seems to be a lot of collateral damage this crime is going to cause. One however is the prompt transfer of IGP Southern Range, Amar Kumar Pandey to Square A, the Police Academy where he was earlier and transfer of A.S.N. Murthy, KPA Director, back to where he was — IGP Southern Range.