MK Ganapati video is dying declaration, evidence: Karnataka former cop

Throughout Friday, Shankar Bidari, the former top cop, had hopped from one television news studio to another — the 'expert' invited to explain to the world what had gone so wrong that two senior police officers in the state had committed suicide in the space of three days — Chikkamagaluru DySP Kallappa Handibag on July 5 and Mangaluru DySP M.K. Ganapati on July 7.

Mr. Bidari had spoken extensively, yet something was terribly wrong in the force that he once headed, but he could not place a finger on it. Perhaps that was why he was, even after a grueling day, still eager to talk to Deccan Chronicle in the evening. Maybe he would finally nail it in this conversation, even if it was only for his own benefit, not to be revealed.

Indeed, at times during the chat, we felt Mr. Bidari was more thinking aloud to himself than talking to us. A few off-the-record remarks and an order shouted out for three coffees later, Mr. Bidari was ready to rifle through his thoughts once again. "You can go ahead and record whatever I say from now," he began.

"See, there are police officers who really work hard, are impartial, and act as per the law, but still face allegations. If there are 100 officers, at least 90 face allegations against themselves at some stage in their career.

This was what happened to Ganapati also", Mr. Bidari said, clearly agitated that the 51-year-old cop chose to end his life than fight his case. "There are some 200 officers deployed in Vidhan Soudha, and half of them must have suffered Lokayukta raids. It's all part of the game as it is played today. As police officers, we deal with criminals, we deal with vested interests, we deal with powerful elements. They will not keep quiet when we go after them. They retaliate, they lay traps for us, they do everything to thwart honest officers. This is today's reality." The sub-text was clear, without having to be spelt out.

"But the thing is, if there are allegations against a police officer, they must be proved. And in Ganapati's case, he was promoted just four months ago, which means there was no proof against him. If there had been, he would not have been promoted. It is as simple as that".

So, then, he must have been telling the truth when he alleged harassment by his seniors and a minister? "Look, nobody knows exactly what happened that forced him to take his own life. But if there is a video tape in which he has stated the reasons, it is equal to a dying declaration and has to be taken at face value unless there is substantive evidence to the contrary. Under the Indian Evidence Act 1872, the video tape is 100 percent admissible substantive evidence," the former top cop said, as his eyes looked far away. Perhaps he was contemplating what would happen  to those Mr. Ganapati had named in the tape.

Could the same be said of Kallappa Handibag, too? "In his case, there is only an audio tape as evidence. A case should have been registered and investigated. The antecedents of the person talking to him on the tape should have been verified. The money he was alleged to have been paid should have been recovered. If Kallappa had indeed kidnapped someone, evidence should have been collected and the trail unearthed. He should have been given a chance to tell his side of the story. None of this was done," Mr. Bidari said, wondering aloud why someone had been in such a hurry to take action against Kallapa.

"Was the audio tape a trap? Criminals resort to such tactics these days, and they are better at using technology than police officers. In these circumstances, suspension was hasty in my opinion. There are many cases registered against ministers. Has such prompt action ever been taken against any of them? Kallappa suffered the ignominy perhaps because he was a hapless, isolated officer without enough clout," the former top cop said, adding that the suspension "at lightning speed" and then being portrayed as a criminal by the media must have pushed him to end his life. But don't senior police officers have any sort of protection within the department?

"That's the most important reason why someone feels pushed to end life or quit — senior officers and the government are expected to protect police officers when they have acted as per the law. That doesn't seem to be happening now," Mr. Bidari said. "Take the Skyye Bar case. A few police officers lodged a complaint that they had been assaulted by an MLA or his associate. It's either true or false. A head constable could have finished the investigation in three days, but it has been two years and no one knows the fate of the case!"