The police have succeeded in catching Bhanu Kiran in the murder case of factionist Gangula Suryanarayana Reddy after a 15-month-long hunt but Nayeemuddin, the person they wanted in many such sensational killings, is still eluding them.
From the gunning down of I.P.S. officer K. S. Vyas at L.B. stadium in the city in 1993 to the brutal murder of former extremist leader, Patlolla Goverdhan Reddy, near Basheerbagh a few months ago, Nayeemuddin was accused of being involved in many cases. These registered murders, murders for gain, extortions and kidnaps apart, numerous allegations were made against him by different persons in the past 19 years.
A paradox
He, however, manages to escape the long arm of the law. It is a paradox that while the police claim to be on the look-out for him, his name continues to crop up in scores of fresh cases. Even the State police chief, V. Dinesh Reddy, directed the Special Intelligence Branch -- the anti-left wing extremism police wing -- to form special teams to nab him.
No progress is reported in tracking him even three months after Mr. Reddy's instructions. Ironically, it is not just the State police department which is on the job but the Central Bureau of Investigation also wanted to catch Nayeemuddin in connection with the fake encounter of Sohrabuddin by the Gujarat police. The central agency suspects he had played a crucial role in tipping off the Gujarat police about Sohrabuddin's movements.
Police informer?
Hailing from Bhongir in Nalgonda district bordering Hyderabad, Nayeemuddin was a member of a Maoist squad -- then known as naxalites of People's War -- which killed Vyas. Later, he surrendered to the police. “He was used as an informer by the police and effectively used to eliminate many naxalites and their sympathisers,” maintain some civil rights activists, though the police deny the claim.
Interestingly, many agree that from a naxal renegade dealing with Inspector rank police officers Nayeemuddin eventually rose to the position of a ‘powerful' person well connected to the top police brass. By entering the real estate business, mostly with fictitious names, he reportedly amassed crores of rupees.
“In the same way as Bhanu Kiran lived outside the State after killing Suri, we suspect that Nayeemuddin is also operating from somewhere in neighbouring States like Maharashtra or Karnataka,” a special police team hunting for him says. The major difference between Bhanu and Nayeemuddin is that the latter has a strong network of agents in Andhra Pradesh.
The last time he appeared before the police was during the trial in the Vyas case at the Nampally Criminal Court Complex in March, 2007. After giving a slip to the police from the court hall then, he never surfaced anywhere.
