VPB Nair - Former Home Secretary,
Andhra Pradesh: So these boys, they ran and locked themselves
up in a room. And then in the whole, all around a lot of pandemonium and
people gathered so the boys were shivering like rats in that small hole.
Tanya Datta: The four men barricaded themselves
into Sai Baba's bedroom. There was a stand-off with the police. Then the
order was given to go in.What happened next is hotly disputed. The official
version seemed clear.
VPB Nair: These four boys charged towards
the police with the knives and started stabbing the inspector and other
personnel. Because they were attacked they opened fire.
Tanya Datta: In self-defence?
VPB Nair:In self-defence. They opened fire
and killed all the four boys. This the police story.
Tanya Datta: Velayudhan Nair rejects the
police version of events. He should know. Until two thousand and two he
was Home Secretary of Andhra Pradesh and in charge of the state police.
On coming to office he examined the files and found that the original
police report was riddled with lies and inconsistencies. This was later
exposed by a CID investigation.
VPB Nair: Two or three daggers cannot be
a match to roaring guns. So this story of the police being attacked and
the police shooting in self-defence is totally baseless.
Tanya Datta: So are you suggesting that the
police executed the boys that night?
VPB Nair: In absolute... this is
absolute
cold-blooded murder.
Tanya Datta: Some police officers were arrested
but never charged. The case was eventually dropped. Sai Baba has always
had a close relationship with the police. Even today, senior officers
are special guests at the Ashram. With friends in such high places Sai
Baba seems to be untouchable. Any attempt to investigate the goings-on
at his Ashram even, murder, appear doomed to failure. Critics say police
connections ensured that Sai Baba wasn't even interviewed, despite being
one of the witnesses to the events of that night.
Basava Premanand - Rationalist & Author:
The only person who was a witness to the murders of mysterious deaths,
that was Sai Baba and he was not examined as, for evidence at all and
those students also who were there, two or three students they were not
examined at all.
Tanya Datta: Why do you think that the nineteen
ninety-three murders weren't properly investigated?
Basava Premanand: The central government
stopped the investigation because if the investigation takes place, a
lot of things will come out. One thing. Economic offences, sex offences,
all these things will come out.
Tanya Datta:
Shocked at what he considers
a travesty of justice, the former Home Secretary is now seeking to reopen
the case.
VPB Nair The killing of the boys was only
to buy silence. If the boys are taken to the court of law, if they were
arrested and taken to the court of law, they would have stated several
things including why did they want to meet Baba.