Chennai: Nearly two and half decades after the brutal killing of former Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, a retired IPS officer, who was then SP-Special Branch Security, says the tragedy was a lesson for the police on security. Mr Nanchil Kumaran, the then SP, was standing just behind the slain political leader. Mr Kumaran, who later became Chennai police commissioner, points out that the concept of ‘belt-bomb’ was completely new 25 years ago. “Also, an execution of the plot by a woman was not anticipated,” he said, recalling how he was announced dead by AIR on the first day because many other police personnel who were standing in close proximity died in the blast.
“But AIR corrected it later. As far as I am concerned it was rebirth for me. I was in hospital for a month,” he said. “I was thrown off in the impact. I was unconscious and when I opened my eyes I was in hospital.”Apart from Rajiv Gandhi, the police force lost 12 personnel in the belt-bomb explosion triggered by a woman LTTE cadre Dhanu at Sriperumbudur during an election meeting on May 21, 1991. It was only after the incident security agencies in the country started thinking more seriously about VIP security. “All security agencies and police started strengthening bomb detection squads and anti-terror wings,” he says.
“Till then, political parties would never take our alerts seriously and were not very co-operative in security related issues. But after the Sriperumbudur incident they started taking security issues seriously,” he added.For K. Mohan, who was then sub-inspector, Ambattur Estate police station, and assigned security duty at the venue, it was a very narrow escape. “I was standing few metres behind the stage. I had just moved away farther to chase away the crowd when the explosion took place,” he recalled. Mr Mohan retired as superintendent of police in 2012.
Luckily for him he suffered only some injuries on his leg. “But I helped my colleague SI Albert, who was seriously injured, to reach hospital. The incident was certainly a shock. It was very unfortunate that such an incident took place in Tamil Nadu,” he said when this newspaper contacted him.
