Kill, Joy

Relatives and friends in Hubballi celebrate V.C. Sajjanar, the cop who headed the team that shot dead the four accused in the Hyderabad rape case.

- Prathima Nandakumar

Vishwanath, a soft-spoken, sober young man, surprised everyone when he plunged into the student union elections at J.G. College of Commerce in Hubballi, Karnataka. His opponent was politically well connected and mobilised loud rallies on campus. Vishwanath quietly met his electorate and won. He then extended the olive branch to his opponent and became even more popular.

Thirty years later, Hubballi woke up to the news of the Cyberabad Police shooting dead the four accused in the gang-rape and murder of Disha, a 26-year-old veterinarian, in Hyderabad. As television channels flashed the images of Cyberabad Police commissioner Vishwanath Channappa Sajjanar (51), who headed the team that shot down the accused, Hubballi erupted in joy.

The Market area, where the Sajjanar family lived till recently, saw neighbours dancing and distributing sweets. The Extension area, where the family now lives, saw a stream of well-wishers making a beeline to congratulate them.

Sajjanar’s elder brother Dr Mallikarjun Sajjanar and his wife, Dr Vinootha, said they were happy as well as sad. They were proud of the brother who people say “taught the rapists a good lesson”, but the inquiry into the killings has made the family wary.

“People should stop wrongly accusing my brother (of being) an encounter specialist,” said Mallikarjun. “My brother would never break the law. It was an act of self-defence. My brother will readily face all inquiries.”

Mallikarjun gets annoyed when people ask him about the Warangal “encounter” of December 13, 2008, where three youths, who allegedly threw acid on two female engineering students, were shot dead. Sajjanar was part of that team, too.