Sonia Faleiro

Update III: Friends of the murdered IOC officer, Manjunath Shanmugam, have created a blog in his memory. Please visit it to write a condolence message, read the continuing reports on the murder, and sign an online appeal to the PM, requesting a thorough investigation into this heinous act. Link via Animesh.

Update II: Yesterday, I watched a detailed report on NDTV; the reporter had travelled to Kolar 90 kms away from Bangalore, to meet with Manjunaths's family. They were naturally distraught. His mother just sat, in shock; his father painfully recalled his last meeting with his son. It was 15 days ago, when he had travelled to Uttar Pradesh to suggest that his son get married. Manjunath apparently replied, "Not, now. I'll wait for another four, five years."

That report isn't currently online, but do read this one in The Indian Express:

Excerpt:

"He was such a free spirit. He had no enemies and yet he suffered such a heinous fate. Just because he was doing his duty,’’ his IIM classmate Sunit Sapra wrote in an e-mail to The Indian Express. ‘‘The case is no less than the killing of Satyendra Dubey. The criminals must be brought to justice and Manju’s sacrifice must be given the respect it deserves,’’ he wrote.

For Manjunathan’s professor at IIM-L, Debashis Chatterjee, it’s a personal loss. ‘‘He was not our typical 8-point brilliant student... but he was a go-getter, very courageous and hardworking. He used to come to me at 4 am to study... we all will miss him,’’ he said. Chatterjee plans to get in touch with as many alumni as possible to decide on a course of action. ‘‘We shall not let him vanish quietly into the night,’’ he said. Messages from his batchmates are pouring in.

‘‘He would always keep his mind on the silver lining of a dark cloud, always laughing and joking around. You fought the odds real hard. Goodbye Machan,’’ wrote Karthik Parthasarathy, IIM-L Batch of 2003. ‘‘He was the booming voice of 3.4, our campus band. He sang from the bottom of his heart, and with an infectious enthusiasm. One of those singers who made the listeners feel like singing along, or at least clap in tune. Bye Machan,’’ wrote Gaurav Sabnis, IIM-L batch of 2003. Machan is what they used to call Manjunathan, the singer from Karnataka. ‘‘At Mysore, they had a singing contest where girls dropped flowers to vote for the best singer, it was my son who won,’’ said Shanmughan, fighting his tears."

Update: NDTV reports that six people have been arrested for the murder of B.S. Manjunathan. This includes Monu Mittal, the owner of the petrol pump sealed by the victim.

And in this moving article in The Telegraph, Manjunaths's father says, "I often pleaded with him that he should give up this job in that part of north India where the border with Nepal and the forest terrain made mafia operation conducive. But he would not listen, and he would say he loved Lucknow which gave him his management degree, and that he was ready to give his life for Indian Oil.” The report continues: "Manjunathan was the oldest of three children and had landed the IOC job through a campus interview last year. He had rented a room at Lakhimpur-Kheri and used to stay alone. Manjunathan’s brother Raghavendran is an engineer and sister Sujata is studying electronics engineering. His mother has been fainting off and on since she heard of his murder."

On Monday evening, a few of us received an email from Gaurav Sabnis, and later, a link to an Indian Express article. B.S. Manjunathan, an alumni of IIM, Lucknow, and a friend of Gaurav's, was working with the Indian Oil Corporation in Lucknow. He was murdered for his determination to report dealers adulterating petrol.

The Express reports:

"Nathan'’s body was recovered from a vehicle in Sitapur district (on November 20th). The vehicle, a Maruti car, reportedly belongs to one Monu, the son of Sulakshan Mittal whose petrol pump in Gola area of Lakhimpur district had been sealed by Nathan. ... During interrogations, the arrested duo reportedly confessed to the crime. Sitapur SP Alok Kumar said Nathan was shot dead on Saturday night. ‘‘The youths were on their way to dispose the body in any isolated place. Fortunately, the policemen of Mahauli police station who were on morning patrol tried to stop the vehicle. But the driver defied the signal and speeded away. The police then gave chase and intercepted the vehicle, where they found the body,’’ he said. The youths were arrested just a few yards away from a river in Sitapur district."

Amit Varma has blogged about it on Tuesday, pointed to this moving post by Gaurav.

"Conversation invariably turned to Manju's work life. We asked him how it felt to work in a PSU like IOCL. Was he the "bada babu". He shrugged. He said work was OK and all, but he felt that the business would improve a lot more if there was transparency. Apparently, part of his job was to inspect samples from petrol pumps, and report back to the company. The petrol pumps were ideally supposed to adhere to very high standards of purity. But he said the adulteration in the petrol pumps in UP, where he was posted, was usually so rampant, it's a wonder even a single petrol pump was functioning. ...

He said the reason why this adulteration happened so brazenly was that the dealers knew that no matter what happens, their licenses couldn't be cancelled. If everyone does it, how many pumps will the company shut down? He said he usually tried to cajole, convince and scold the dealers to not indulge in such dishonesty. He said some fell in line, but most of them usually got back to the same old adulteration business. In fact Manju said, some of the petrol pump owners are downright scary."

Do read the rest.

Image courtesy: The Telegraph.

That was very unfortunate and it's shocking that the incident didn't make any big news.
Gaurav should be thanked for passing on this news in blogdom.

Thanks for the links, Sonia. I have signed the petition and hope that definitive action is soon taken to bring the criminals who comitted this heinous act to justice.

Shikha

Thanks, Shikha. I did too. I do hope it helps.

To say that we Indians are shocked would be an understatement, the fact which stares us in the face is that we have created a system where whistleblowers like Manjunath and the late Satyendra Dubey have no protection at all. This is sad, unfair and cruel. A nation cannot forge ahead if it fails to recognise its heroes. We must make sure that Manjunath never fades away from public memory. And the best way to do it is to create a system in which whistleblowers are protected and action is taken upon their reports. This is the least we can do for brave men like Manjunath and Satyendra who were killed for no fault of theirs. If we do not do this the only message we will be sending to young Indians will be "Look the other way when you see corruption or, better still, become corrupt yourself!"

A heinous end to a bright, courageous young life. Makes me at once proud and ashamed to be an Indian.

May Manjunath's noble soul rest in eternal peace.

Vasundhara

It is a fight against evil forces..as said in bhagavad gita truth alone triumphs. The enemies may feel they have closed this issue..but it is just a beginning..you will find many manju shanmugans surfacing on our mother india..