The Hindu Business Line : V for Vijay Kumar

THIS column will be remiss if it does not join the chorus of appreciation that the Special Task Force (STF) of the Tamil Nadu police has earned from all over the world for the heroic achievement in ridding the State of the dreaded devil of a ruthless killer who cast a dark and menacing shadow over the country for well over two decades. While everyone serving the STF deserves kudos, the credit for welding all the 752 of them into a tight-knit team with a laser-like focus on the objective undeniably goes to the Additional Director-General of Police, and chief of the STF, Mr K. Vijaya Kumar.

The task he had undertaken was made all the more daunting by the forbidding topography of the hilly terrain and its dense forests, which had helped Veerappan elude for so long the clutches of the police forces of two frontline States known for their operational efficiency.

In my experience of the police, security and counter-insurgency, I see no parallel to the way Mr Vijay Kumar went about accomplishing what had already been given up as Mission Impossible. He laid the groundwork by meticulous planning and by bringing into play every strategic and tactical skill to outwit an admittedly wily and deadly quarry who had demonstrated his Houdini-like prowess time and again. Mr Vijay Kumar's has, in short, been an outstanding example of leadership and single-minded pursuit of a given goal.

Every detail of the operation is worth being incorporated into a comprehensive manual and prescribed as a case study in administrative and police training academies. The compilation should also include a comparative analysis of earlier efforts so as to throw light on their gaps and deficiencies, especially on whether the methods employed now could not have been thought of earlier and where they went awry.

It is clear that the achievement would not have been possible without the backing at the highest political level for whatever it took to track down and terminate the evil reign of Veerappan and his gang. There can be no doubt that the needed inspiration and motivation, and most of all, the free hand, provided by the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Ms Jayalalithaa, to the STF also contributed tremendously to its success.

Altogether an impressive model of effective professional and political synergy for the whole country to celebrate.

B. S. Raghavan

More Stories on : People | Security | Offhand

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Ambitious on FDI

The world economic disorder

Stability of prices or inflation?

Endless tale of the essential onion

A poll tear-jerker?

Revitalise rural credit thru Nabard

Interest rates can move down too

V for Vijay Kumar

Presidential debates