the spirits, the murders

There were murders, done in dark and silent nights on the streets of Chennai. Nearly ten of them occurred in a spate of 30 days. Public, police and the press were on the prowl –each with their own agenda. And then, this news item appeared- not an obscure single column two inch `matter’ but a half-page colour feature!This is how the “news” appeared:

2 serial killers on prowl, say spirits
In a dimly-lit room in Triplicane, occult specialist Ravichandran invokes ‘friendly’ spirits through his medium. He shoots questions at the medium, a young woman and a student of occult studies, about the recent serial killings to which the city police are fervently trying to find answers.

“While the murders were committed by one person, he had an accomplice who watched the crimes and derived pleasure out of it,” said the young woman as she scribbled incoherently on a piece of paper like someone ‘possessed’.

After his brief interaction with the spirits, Ravichandran avers that the murderer targeted people belonging to the same profession. And he too had worked in the same line before developing an hatred for the job. “I got to know that the killer also suffered from partial mental imbalance. And in those moments, he had killed people,” Ravichandran told this newspaper.

Trying to unravel the ‘psycho’ killings is not the first police case that Vikravandi V. Ravicha ndran is handling. Policemen stuck with unsolvable cases are his regular visitors hoping that some unofficial and unconventional help will bring fresh clues to their cases. The spirits also informed Ravi that the ‘pyscho’ killer would murder one more person before being nabbed by the police. “But, the duo will be caught soon,” he said. When asked if the same person committed all the six murders, the spirits told Ravi that while the mentally deranged killer was responsible for four of the murders, two murders were thrust upon him.

Ravi is not the only consultant the police talk to. Other occult specialists and astrologers too give expert advice in solving major crimes. “When they hit a roadblock police officers approach me for advice,” a noted astrologer claimed.

The fee ranges from Rs 500 to a few thousands. And police admit that sometime a door opens for them, like when the astrologer insisted that a family member was involved in a burglary. “He was right,” said an inspector. Back in the ’70s, when an idol was stolen from the Ettumanoor temple in Kottayam district in Kerala, astrological predictions helped the police in tracking down the accused. Asked to look for ‘paper’ evidence, a page from a used notebook that was retrieved from the crime scene helped the cops to solve the crime.

(from DC:Chennai
http://m.pressmart.net/Home.aspx?event=Dcchennai&dt=25072008&page=002_006&mdl=)

This is what was reported in a reliably respectable news paper.

And in two weeks, the murderer has been nabbed! Much before committing another murder as predicted by the spirits! This stinking story, perhaps perfumed or incensed enough for spirit-traders, makes me wonder about the police and the frauds, not to mention the wonderful journalistic non-concern for truth.

The police have no business to enlist and pay for the services of these spirit-counsellors. But given the fact that we are a tolerant, embracing, multi-cultural society in which individual beliefs and sentiments are given a fair amount of respect, I do not think that it is wrong for the cop as an individual, in his own personal capacity- definitely not as a law and order officer, to have sought divine or devious interventions. But when the consultant claims that police call upon him to help to solve these cases, and that too in a newspaper, something must be done.

The policeman should be called for inquiry to ascertain whether he had pursued un-scientific means to do his job, and if found guilty appropriately punished by the (atheist-turned-agnostic-but –always-{though self-proclaimed}-rational) chief minister of Tamilnadu. If this were not true, the newspaper should tell gullible readers like me, whether the whole story was just a joke. They should find out more. It would really educate the public to know who gave this lead to the journalist. And, if my guess is right, and this is just a publicity stunt to boost a business, I hope that there is a possibility to punish someone for this.

My Confusions and concerns are increasing.So, the alleged `psycho’-killer finally has vanished. A petty thief with a penchant for smashing heads and burning bodies has been successfully `detected’. All of us (from the very common me to the CoP to the CM) can now have a good night’s sleep. I wonder why these puny young men wanted to take an auto-rickshaw, roam the streets at night, catch poor watchmen for looting their meager possessions, and kill the victims? The stories we were told by the media described how blunt weapons or stones were used to smash the skull and also some bodies were burnt. Such a vicious violent and perverted crime had been committed for how much money? Not even a couple of thousands!! So this is now supposed to be a `murder for gain’ thing, not a string of murders with no motive! We now have murderers and the motive, only clues are missing! Ofcourse proofs may surface albeit from the masterminds of supercops.If the lie of the spirit-consultant becomes true by a freak accident, and if some more hapless people happen to get killed in a similar fashion, then? I shudder to think of the scene. With absolutely no shame or guilt our officials will tell us the hunt is on. Newspapers will create exciting stories. The search will be on, while the accused will be ignored and left in some corner of an asylum or jail –after all that is what happened to the first `nab’ by the police in this serial killing fiasco. The mentally ill person was rightly sent to the institute of mental health, Chennai, where he will be under observation! The only right thing done in that case!Regarding spirits later.

the last/latest i read about this thing is that there are seven guys going around killing- info allegedly given by the CoP Chennai! between the `catch’ and the `news’ there were Masha Allah no killings!!

<!–

Fast Forward

Copy this link in your email and forward to all your friends.

//
–>

Explore posts in the same categories: chennai concerns

Tags: chennai, police, rational, serial killer

You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.