National

His Hideout Of Myths

Police chasing Dara Singh keep running into a maze of legends woven by sympathetic locals-and Sangh-orchestrated diversionary tactics

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His Hideout Of Myths
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It is a transformation, albeit meticulously planned, of a ruthless Hindutva zealot into some kind of a living legend. Eight months after he led a mob that burnt Christian missionary Graham Stewart Staines and his two sons to death in Manoharpur, stories about Dara Singh's supernatural powers have been doing the rounds in the tribal districts of Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj in Orissa, giving him a near-mythical status. Hindutva forces are working overtime, though covertly, to project Dara as a saviour who is fighting alien evil forces. And for eight months the prime accused in the Staines murder has managed to keep the entire state machinery on its toes.

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Propaganda justifying his actions is being carried out among credulous villagers by word of mouth ever since Dara chased Sheikh Rehman, a local trader, at Pariabeda weekly haat (market), chopped off his hands and set him ablaze on August 26. People are being told that Dara was only avenging the killing of soldiers belonging to the local Mahanta community by the Pathans (read Pakistani soldiers) in Kargil.

A week later, on September 1, Roman Catholic priest Arul Doss was killed in a similar fashion in Mayurbhanj district by a bow-and-arrow wielding gang. Crimes against minorities continue unabated even as the state chief minister, Giridhar Gomango, says it is his responsibility to protect and look after them.

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Senior police officers admit that the whole state has been mobilised against an individual. But that has not got them anywhere. Consequently, they have started blaming the locals for their failure to help them nab Dara Singh. According to the police, locals are providing shelter to Dara Singh who, armed with a double-barrel gun, is constantly on the move with a group of 12 to 15 tribesmen with bows and arrows.

On the other hand, tales of  Dara's magical prowess seem to hold this backward area of the state in thrall, largely owing to the all-round failure of the state police to locate him. Local inhabitants are being made to believe that the police will never be able to arrest him because he's equipped with supernatural capabilities. Umesh Mahanta of Kerkera village and his colleague told Outlook: “The police can't catch him. He sleeps three feet above his bed and can run at the speed of 80 km an hour.”  Umesh and his friends came out on the streets last week to enforce a bandh call given by the bjp in protest against the arrest of some alleged Dara supporters.

There, however, is a small section of the local populace that does not approve of Dara's actions and intentions. But it prefers to remain silent. His murderous fan club, meanwhile, is far too vocal to let any stray dissenting voice catch a few ears. Everyone in the locality knows Dara Singh's always been an ardent Hindutva supporter. Even his lawyer Rakshyakar Pati is an rss man. Pati told Outlook: “I've been associated with the rss since childhood.” An old sticker prominently displayed on his wall screams: “Garv se kaho hum Hindu hain.” The lawyer takes care of the criminal cases pending against Dara Singh in the local court. He's clear about why he supports Dara-”Yahan ke log Dara Singh ka nahin balki uski chintadhara ka samarthan karte hain (People of this area do not support Dara Singh, they support his ideology).”

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The Wadhwa Commission may have exonerated the Bajrang Dal and other Hindu organisations but police officers say Dara Singh is hand-in-glove with the Hindutva forces. “In Hindi movies when the hero and heroine dance in disguise in the villain's den, everyone else recognises them but for the villain. Everyone here knows about Dara's ideology except for the obvious villains,” said a top-ranking police officer. There is, however, a problem with this analogy. Villains here, unlike their silver screen counterparts, are equally aware of Dara's intentions and politics. They aren't fooled into believing otherwise; they only feign ignorance to fool others. Sources say that in a raid conducted in March this year the police tumbled across his belongings that included, among other things, a bhojan mantra recited by all the members of the Bajrang Dal before meals. But technically that is hardly enough evidence to prove Dara Singh is a member of the Bajrang Dal.

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Amid growing pressure the police arrested six young men, including  Rajkishor Mahanta of Purunapani village, alleged to be Dara's right-hand man. Those arrested were picked up from different places in Keonjhar and Mayurbhanj last week. Says chief minister Giridhar Gomango: “Rajkishor is Dara's associate and he has clearly told the police that the man is a member of the Bajrang Dal and a bjp supporter.”

However, while the police were recording the statement of the accused on video cameras in Thakurmunda police station, Outlook managed to speak to some of them. All of them denied having links with Dara and said they wouldn't even be able to recognise him if they saw him. The local police officers also confirmed that all the accused had denied any connection with Dara Singh. But one of the arrested, according to the police, admitted that he knows a Dara associate.

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Failing to catch Dara, the local police say a major plan is under way to confuse the police and divert their attention from the combing operations. Says Mayurbhanj ssp Pradip Kapoor: “This is for the first time that a political party has come out in open support of Dara Singh.” Another senior police officer, who did not want to be identified, told Outlook: “The easiest way is to arrest him and embarrass the political party supporting him.” The party being referred to is the bjp, but that does not quite explain why the Congress government in Orissa has failed to zero in on Dara. IG A. Patnaik, chief of the combing operations, and other police officers, have been camping at Karanjia to monitor the mission.

Police officers are afraid of talking about Dara Singh. They fear it might cost them their job, as is the case with Dilip Mahapatra, dgp, Orissa. Mahapatra's transfer was stayed after the Election Commission objected to it but informed sources say that a plan is afoot to demote him as additional DG.

Last week's incidents have left the police perplexed. The police team that reached Purunapani village to arrest Rajkishor Mahanta, following a tip-off, had to face violent opposition from the local women. The next day the bjp organised a bandh. “Anyone can see that there is a plan to divert the attention of the police. Whenever we get on to a hot trail, some incident takes place. Now they have called for a bandh to engage the force in maintaining law and order to divert its attention from the combing operations,” said a police officer.

But it's not just empty excuses. Police officers are not quite off the mark when they say that Dara is being shielded. Aggressive women of Purunapani who prevented the police from arresting Rajkishor are very much aware of Dara's activities. Ahilya Mahanta, a young woman of Purunapani, told Outlook: “What is wrong with what he is doing? Pathans killed our people in Kargil, therefore these killings are justified.”

Clearly, the rural population is sharply divided on communal lines. Dara's main support base rests in the Mahanta community which has of late been demanding  scheduled tribe status. Interestingly, the bjp too has a strong base among the Mahantas. A few kilometers from Purunapani is Padiabeda village where Dara and his gang members had gone for their recent kill-Sheikh Rehman-at the weekly market. Stories about Rehman's evil doings are now being spread to justify Dara's actions.

Jaikrishan Mahanta, an elderly man of Padiabeda, says he was not present when Dara struck at the weekly market. But when he came back he found the half-burnt body of Sheikh Rehman in a pool of blood, his hands chopped off. Meanwhile, Sheikh Manan Mohammad, the brother of the victim, told Outlook: “Dara and his men chased Rehman all over the place. He knocked on all the doors and cried for help but nobody came forward.When I reached there he was still alive and crying in a semi-conscious state, 'Bihari mujhe mat maar, Dara mat maar (Don't kill me Bihari, Dara please don't kill me)' and he died.”

As the state goes to general election on September 25 and October 3, charges and counter-charges are bound to fly thick. Nobody can deny the kind of protection Dara Singh enjoys  in these  times of bad faith from a cynically divided population and the Hindutva forces. That, however, can be no excuse for the Congress-led Orissa government and its state machinery, which has failed to marshall enough political and administrative will to crack down on Dara Singh. Meanwhile, the menace prowls around, freely and with no fear of law or God, with his pack of marauders in the remote districts of Orissa waiting to pounce on soft quarries yet again.

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