Lets Kill Gandhi

by Gandhi, Tushar A.

  The other unexplained lapse on part of the police was over the press release they had found in Marina Hotel. It established the fact that the occupants had connections with the Hindu Mahasabha. A casual questioning of the office bearers would have shed some light on the identity of the accused. If the Delhi police had spoken with Ashutosh Lahiri, they would have got the identities of Nathuram V. Godse, Narayan D. Apte and Vishnu R. Karkare. In an affidavit submitted to the Kapur Commission, Lahiri complained that the police did not bother to question him between the 20th and 30th.

  That the police must have got a lot of information about the identities of the gang members and their sympathisers is apparent from the speed of the arrests of the accused and the identification of all the witnesses in the Gandhi murder case after 30 January. Within fifteen days of the murder the entire gang was behind bars. Even the identities of their sponsors and suppliers were established and many of them were detained and questioned. It is unlikely that Nathuram would have revealed information to the police as willingly as Madanlal. The police did not use third degree methods on him. Nathuram, who complained about every imagined and actual infringement of his rights or about ill-treatment to the court, never accused the police of harassment or torture.

  There was another glaring lapse on the part of the police. No policemen from Bombay province, especially from Poona and Ahmednagar, were brought to Delhi to help in the investigations and to act as watchers and spotters at Birla House, to ensure that known troublemakers from their home province did not reach Gandhi. Apte and Karkare were apprehensive about this and had gone over to Birla House in the afternoon of the 30th to see if any police officers from their province were there. The murderers had thought of this possibility but the police had not. The Bombay city and provincial police claimed that it was up to the Delhi police to ask for such help; under the police service rules they could not impose their personnel on another department. Yet, on 1 February 1948, four constables from Poona were sent by air to Delhi to look for Apte and Karkare and to ensure that they created no further mischief. What has never been found out is if this was done on a request from the Delhi police or as an initiative of the Poona police.

  Nagarvala had, in the only act of intelligent police work, ordered the arrest of Badge on 24 January. Not that he had any evidence to order the arrest; Madanlal had been found carrying a grenade with him and had confessed that the murder had been planned in Poona and Badge had a long record as a weapons dealer there. However, this order too was a victim of inter-departmental non-cooperation. Poona police fell under the Bombay provincial police department. For the next seven days they sat on the order; Badge was eventually arrested on the morning of the 31st. The Poona police claimed that Badge had gone into hiding in the forests surrounding Poona, but he told the police that, after arriving from Delhi on the 22nd, he had been in Poona at his house.

  On 9 January Inspector Razak had recommended that Karkare and Madanlal be detained. It took the department three days to process the recommendation and issue warrants; by then both had left Ahmednagar. Karkare was an influential person and it would not be surprising if a friend in the department had tipped them off about their impending arrest. Inspector J.N. Joshi, a stenographer in the police department, had run into Madanlal at the railway station on 9 January 1948; in fact, he had spoken to him. He recalled that Madanlal had mentioned that he was going to Delhi to get married. Razak's recommendation must surely have passed Joshi's office: Karkare was an elected member of the Ahmednagar municipality. Joshi did not bother to tell his superiors or his subordinates that at least one of the persons they wanted to detain, had already flown the coop. After Madanlal's arrest, the police produced two letters for Madanlal received at Dr. Jain's address in Bombay. They were written by Shewanta, Madanlal's girlfriend in Ahmednagar. However, the police did not question her; they pursued the lead only after Gandhi's murder.

  After the murder, the Home ministry launched an investigation to find out the extent of infiltration of the RSS and Hindu Mahasabha cadres into the administrative services, the police forces and the armed forces. The presence of a large number of active members was found in all wings. Apart from the active members, there were numerous sympathisers who encouraged Hindu extremist groups.

  Pyarelal, in his book Mahatma Gandhi—The Last Phase, Volume 10, Part-II, has referred to this unexplained lethargy on the part of the police. He writes: 'What, however, surprises one is that in spite of the definite and concrete information of which the authorities were in possession, they should have failed to trace and arrest the conspirators and frustrate their plan. The failure was an index of the extent of the rot that had permeated many branches of the services, not excluding the police. In fact, later it was brought to light that the RSS organisations had ramifications even in government departments, and many police officials, not to mention the rank and file, gave their sympathy and even active help to those engaged in RSS activities. Even before the bomb explosion, some of the refugee camps in Delhi were known to be buzzing with loose talk about the assassination of Gandhiji and other Congress leaders who enjoyed the reputation of being opposed to communalistic ideologies. A letter which Sardar Patel received after the assassination from a young man, who according to his own statement had been gulled into joining the RSS organisation but was later disillusioned, described how members of the RSS at some places had been instructed beforehand to tune in their radio sets on the fateful Friday to hear the "good news". After the news, sweets were distributed in all RSS shakhas. When the RSS was later banned by an order of the government, the local police chief in one of the Indian states, according to the Sardar's correspondent, sent word to the organisers to close their office "for thirteen days" as a sign of mourning, and disperse but not to disband. The rot was so insidious and wide spread that only the supreme sacrifice could arrest or remove it'.

  Judge Atmacharan, the presiding judge hearing the Gandhi murder trial, was extremely critical of the police's role in abetting his murder. He passed severe strictures against the police in his judgement. T may bring to the notice of the Central Government the slackness of the police in the investigation of the case during the period between 20-1-1948 and 30-1-1948. The Delhi Police had obtained a detailed statement from Madanlal K. Pahwa soon after his arrest on 20-1-1948. The Bombay Police had also been reported the statement of Dr. J.C. Jain that he had made to the Hon'ble Mr. Morarji Desai on 21-1-1948. The Delhi Police and the Bombay Police had contacted each other soon after these two statements had been made. Yet the police miserably failed to derive any advantage from these two statements. Had the slightest keenness been shown in the investigation of the case at that stage the tragedy probably could have been avoided.' Short of holding the police guilty of assisting in Gandhi's murder, the presiding judge had passed one of the most adverse comments on record against the police.

  The J.L. Kapur Commission instituted in 1965 to look into the allegations that many people had information on the planned attempt on Gandhi's life, also passed many adverse remarks against the inefficiency and inaction of the police.

  If on the evening of 30 January 1948 Nathuram was the one who pressed the trigger of the 9 mm Beretta, he was very efficiently assisted by the criminal negligence and the glaring lethargy displayed by the police. In hindsight it can only be said that, in Gandhi's murder, the police by their negligence and inactions were as much guilty as the murderers themselves.

  After the 30th, the police was very quick in arresting the accused. First, Nathuram was taken to the Tughlaq Road Police Station and formally arrested for the murder of Gandhi.

  At 5.30 am on the 31st, Inspector Oak of the Poona district police arrested Badge from his home. When asked where Madanlal had got the explosives from, Badge confessed to having supplied them. However, he denied that he was part of the conspiracy to kill Gandhi. He recounted the events from day one in as much detail as he could remember. Nagarvala then led a raid on Savarkar Sadan on the afternoon of the 31st. When they reache
d there, Savarkar met them outside his first floor room. On seeing Nagarvala, he immediately asked, 'So you have come to arrest me for the murder of Mahatma Gandhi?' Nagarvala was surprised that Sarvakar should pre-empt him in such a way, and said they were there only on a routine search and seizure operation. Incriminating documents were seized from his residence, establishing the close relationship that the gang members in general, and Nathuram and Apte in particular, enjoyed with Savarkar. He was finally detained on 5 February 1948 and was formally arrested on 11 March.

  Nagarvala went to Poona looking for Apte, Gopal and Shankar on 5 February. At Apte's home he was told that they had not seen or heard from him for the past twenty days. Shankar had gone to Kolhapur to meet his mother and hadn't returned. He walked into the Bombay Police Headquarters on the 6th and was greeted with a hard slap by Nagarvala.

  Gopal was at his ancestral home in Uksan; he was arrested and taken to Bombay. On being interrogated he told the police that he had given his revolver for safe-keeping to Pandurang Godbole who used to work in his elder brother, Dattatreya Godse's company, Udyam Engineering. The police brought Gopal back to Poona on the 8th and took him to Godbole's home. After he learnt that Gandhi's murderer was Gopal's brother, Nathuram, Godbole had panicked. He had agreed to hide Gopal's gun and was certain of being implicated in the murder case. He spoke with a friend, Kale, who agreed to dispose off the gun for his friend. After sustained interrogation Godbole admitted that he had handed over the gun to his friend. Kale was immediately picked up and he admitted that he had thrown away the gun that very night Godbole handed it over to him. He had thrown it in the shrubs opposite the gate of Ferguson College in Poona. The gun was never found. Kale and Godbole were arrested and kept in custody for questioning; they spent six weeks in the lock-up.

  By now Nagarvala, acting on Badge's confession, had picked up almost all the accused except Apte and Karkare. After Nathuram's arrest, a diary was recovered from him, which proved to be a valuable source of information. He had kept very detailed notes of the money spent from the joint account controlled by Apte and him. Details like 'Rs. 250/- to Gopal'; 'Rs. 50/- to Bandobhau'; 'Rs. 305/- Bombay-Delhi Aeroplane', were all noted down. Although Nathuram claimed that he was acting on his own, from his notes the police surmised that there was a larger group at work. Nathuram and Apte called Badge 'Bandobhau', Gopal could only be Nathuram's brother Gopal Godse, and Rs. 308 for 'Bombay-Delhi Aeroplane' meant that two tickets had been purchased as one ticket cost Rs. 154 in those days. Not only this, the diary also had an account of his movements between the 20th and 30th of January. He had mentioned staying at Elphinstone Hotel in Bombay from the 24th to the 27th. On 5 February two CID officers from Bombay visited the Elphinstone Hotel on Hornby Road, but found no record of stay. The manager asked them if they meant Elphinstone Annexe at Carnac Road. He spoke to the manager of the Annexe, Kashmirilal, about the information the police required. The Annexe is a small hotel; the gallery which doubles up as the lobby could be clearly seen from where Kashmirilal was speaking on the phone. Apte and Karkare were standing just outside their room when the call came through. Kashmirilal noticed them. Govinda, a room attendant, was standing close to Kashmirilal, and mentioned that one of the occupants of Room 5 matched the description provided by the police. Hearing vague references to 24 January, Apte asked Kashmirilal what was going on. After reassuring him that it was nothing, Kashmirilal rushed to Elphinstone Hotel with the guest register where the two cops were waiting for him. Suspicious, Apte and Karkare immediately picked up their bags and checked out of the hotel; they beat the police by half an hour.

  On the evening of the 30th, Apte and Karkare had slipped out of Birla House using a side exit, and made their way to Old Delhi railway station. They spent the night on the platform and had seen the police arrive at the station and carry away Nathuram's luggage from the retiring room. Apte and Karkare planned to meet some sympathetic politicians in Delhi, who they knew were supporters of the Hindu Right-wing, to get funds and documents to help them to escape. However, when they tried to reach their benefactors the next day, they got caught in Gandhi's million-strong funeral procession. They made their way back to the station and caught the Express train to Allahabad as they suspected that the trains to Bombay would be watched.

  As per Apte's instructions, Manorama Salvi had dutifully sent a telegram on the morning of 31st addressed to the secretary of the Hindu Mahasabha in Delhi. It read: 'ARRIVING DELHI ARRANGE FOR DEFENCE STOP N STOP D STOP APTE STOP'. Apte and Karkare reached Bombay on 2 February. They first went to the Sea Green (North) Hotel. Satyavan Rele, the manager, was unable to give them a room, and offered them two beds in different rooms occupied by other people. On the 3rd they checked out and got a double room at the Elphinstone Annexe Hotel from where they went to meet Karkare's friend, Joshi. After hearing the manager's conversation, the duo caught a taxi to Arya Pathik Ashram at Sandhurst Bridge. Apte was sure the manager, G.P. Dube, would definitely accommodate them. But they were out of luck. Later, Dube told the police that he had been put off by their dishevelled looks. After being turned away from there, Apte and Karkare, for the first time experienced what it felt like to be hounded. They went straight to the Victoria Terminus station and caught a train to Thana. In the late afternoon, they turned up with their bags at Joshi's house, who realised their involvement in Gandhi's murder. But he was a supporter of the Mahasabha and also Karkare's friend and so he stuck his neck out for them. The two were keen to escape to a foreign territory or country to evade arrest. Joshi volunteered to meet some people to seek help for Karkare and Apte. The first to meet them was M.G. Ghaisas, who was asked to go to Poona to assess the situation and find out if the police had visited Apte's home. Ghaisas returned on 9th morning with encouraging news and Apte and Karkare decided to leave for Poona. According to their statements, in Poona they were offered hospitality by their friends, and were able to hide in their homes; other friends brought news and clothes for Apte from his home, while some offered them help in escaping.

  However, Poona was becoming dangerous for them to stay in. The police were beginning to close in on them and Karkare and Apte decided to leave for Bombay. They were certain that friends in Bombay would be able to help them escape to Goa, and from there, to a foreign country. Apte and Karkare returned to Bombay on the morning of 11 February and went straight to Thana. They stayed with Joshi for two days. To create another alibi for themselves, Joshi's son had got them suburban railway tickets that had been purchased on 30 January. In the event of their arrest they hoped to fool the police into thinking that they were in Bombay on that day. After Apte's arrest the police found ticket number 05891 dated 30/01/48 from Dadar to Vile Parle on him. It could not have been too difficult a task for an organisation like the Hindu Mahasabha and RSS to procure a used ticket. For accounting purposes, all the tickets collected at the stations are recorded; their numbers are noted in a Recovered Ticket Register at the station; then sent to the central office and from there to the divisional office. Once the ticket numbers are recorded and tallied the tickets become useless and are disposed of. It is possible to siphon off a couple of tickets anywhere during this process. After investigation, the police were able to prove that the ticket had been collected by the ticket checker at Vile Parle Station and entered in the used ticket register the same day it had been issued. Whoever had obtained the ticket for Apte had used money or access to the railways office to pick up the ticket and hand it over to Joshi after the 30th. Like the telegram sent by Manorama, the possession of the ticket also proved to be a futile alibi.

  On 13 February, Apte and Karkare checked in to Pyrke's Apollo Hotel behind Regal Cinema in south Bombay, a stone's throw away from the Gateway of India and the Taj Mahal Hotel. Apte and Manorama had often checked in here as 'Mr & Mrs Apte'. Claudio Pinto, a clerk at the reception counter, checked in 'N. Kashinath' and 'R. Bishnu' and gave them the keys to Room 29 on the second floor. At about ten the next morning, Apte called Manorama, asking her to meet
him at six that evening at the hotel. Unknown to him, the police knew about their liaison as per Badge's confession. As Manorama's father was in the police, their phone was an extension number from the general police exchange. For the past few days, Nagarvala had ordered surveillance on the Salvi home and their phone was tapped. The police, therefore, listened in to Apte's conversation with Manorama. After the call Narayan Apte and Vishnu Karkare went their separate ways.

  At 11 am Inspector B.A. Haldipur arrived at the hotel and enquired about the occupants of Room 29. As they were not in, Haldipur decided to wait for them to come back. He took up a vantage position in the lobby as he knew that Apte had asked Manorama to come at six that evening. After a long vigil, at 5.30 pm, a taxi pulled up in front of the hotel and Apte got out. Pinto, the reception clerk, nodded his head, and Haldipur pounced on Apte. He was arrested and whisked off to the police headquarters.

  Karkare had gone to Thana to meet Joshi to check on their arrangements for their escape out of the country. He came back to the hotel at 8.25 pm. Haldipur was waiting for him. Now almost all those named by Badge were in the hands of the police.

  On 11 February Shankar Kistayya led a police party to the spot in the woods behind the Hindu Mahasabha Bhavan and the South Indian School in New Delhi, where he had hidden the hand grenades and the unused gun cotton slab before escaping from Delhi on the evening of 20 January. He showed them two spots, about forty-five yards apart, from where the police recovered three live hand grenades, twenty-five cartridges and a gun cotton slab with an attached fuse wire.