Informant regrets helping cops trace Rajiv Gandhi killers

BANGALORE: K. Muniyamma, who helped the police nab killers of Rajiv Gandhi, is still awaiting the rewards that were promised to her.

In the pre-dawn operation on 19 August, 1991, the police team, which included the elite NSG, CBI’s Special Investigation Team and local cops, exchanged fire with the LTTE activists. But Sivarasan and his gang consumed cyanide and died to escape capture.

Popularly known as Haalina (milk) Muniyamma in the locality, she had led a simple life. Her life changed after the Sivarasan episode. For some time, she even had to live under police security. “I was promised reward of Rs. 10 lakhs but nothing happened. After much pleading, I got Rs. 60,000 in 1992,”’ she recalls.

Illness and increasing debts made her life miserable, as did the theft of her seven cows a few years ago. She complained to the police, but in vain. Today, Muniyamma lives in a one-room house built on a 20ft x 15ft site. Her husband Krishnappa works as a daily wager at a fruit stall in Konanakunte and her son Nagesh Kumar supplies milk to support the six-member family.

A few years ago, Muniyamma’s fourth son Nagesh Kumar passed a written test and physical exam held for constables. “They asked for a bribe of Rs. 2 lakhs. From where should we bring that kind of money?” asks Muniyamma.

Priyanka Gandhi’s meeting Nalini, an imprisoned LTTE activist and Sivarasan’s aide, surprises Muniyamma. “I heard that Rajiv Gandhi’s family has forgiven Nalini. That’s their decision. Why don’t they show me some mercy? My son says it is vote-bank politics which I don’t understand,” she says.

“I think I did a mistake by helping the government,” Muniyamma says.