‘Coastal Region should be on Vigil due to Possible Attacks- Ex Intelligence Chief Dr DV Guruprasad
Mangaluru : Former chief of state intelligence department Dr D V Guruprasad addressing the gathering during a talk on his book, ‘Dantachorana Bennatti’ a Kannada translation of K Vijay Kumar’s book ‘Chasing the Brigand’ based on the forest brigand Veerappan at the conference hall of Mangaluru City Police Commissionerate on Thursday, 10 October said that the coastal region needs to be on vigil, as the possibilities of attacks in the form of 26/11 cannot be ruled out.
Dr Guruprasad, who is also former director of the department of Information and Publicity, recollecting his experiences as the head of the Intelligence department of the state during the tenure of three chief ministers- S M Krsihna, Dharam Singh and HD Kumaraswamy, he
recollected that a criminal like Veerappan had intelligence inputs on par with any top official of the government. He said, “Veerappan’s high-ended tactfulness in executing deadly attacks on former IGP Gopal Hosur and abduction of the Thespian Dr Rajkumar and minister Nagappa, justifies the very fact. Veerappan had his own intelligence system, which had rendered him invincible for many decades”
He further said, “We are happy that the ivory poacher was finally cornered in 2004, during a collaborative action by the police forces of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka states. K Vijay Kumar, who was also a part of the force, has written a book based on his experiences in the
anti-Veerappan operation. I had embarked on an extensive research on Veerappan to write my second book on this poacher. The book is expected to be released in November 2019”. It is learnt that Dr Guruprasad has around 60 books to his credit, the recent being ‘Dantachorana Bennatti’ (which was recently released in Bengaluru) and ‘Goodhacharyeya aa Dinagalu’.
Regarding phone tapping issue, Dr Guruprasad said no chief ministers including H D Kumaraswamy had asked him to do illegal phone tapping when he was the intelligence chief. “Phone tapping is commonly used to gather intelligence by many countries to protect national interest. Regarding the recent phone-tapping controversy that is going on, the CBI is probing the case and if anybody is found on the wrong side, CBI will take the necessary action”. To yet another query from a journo, Dr Guruprasad said the Supreme Court’s orders preventing political interference in the activities of the Police department were not implemented in Toto. But a review petition in this regard is pending before the apex court, he added.
Dr Guruprasad said intelligence plays a significant role and real intelligence gathering happen at police station level. He said that it was a good development that the Intelligence department now had an exclusive recruitment process and urged police officials to be people-friendly. “When the police are friendly with the people then they can get better inputs’ added Dr Guruprasad.
Mangaluru Commissioner of Police Dr P S Harsha, DCP (Crime & Traffic) Lakshmi Ganesh K and DCP (Law and Order) Arunangshu Giri were among other police officials present .