Unbreakable

TIRUNELVELI: Loyola Ignatius (60) retired from Tamil Nadu Police in the rank of Additional Superintendent of Police (ADSP) on December 30, 2022. These days, he spends most of his time with his grandson at the family house in Palayamkottai, Tirunelveli district.

A couple of weeks before his retirement, he got new Khaki sets stitched to wear for his retirement function. Sharing this, his wife, Helen lets out a hearty laugh. “I could have served for a couple more years.

But, they asked me to leave,” he was lamenting. “Who will allow it?” she laughed again. “Helen can laugh as much as she wants. Though I bore the injuries, she bore the pain,” Loyola tells of his wife. The couple are related to each other and got married in 1986, when Helen was just 19. A year later, Loyola enlisted as a Sub Inspector with the State Police.

STF volunteers

At the time of his joining the force, securing a government job was his primary aim. He did not know then that he would be carrying a permanent souvenir inside his head, literally, from being a part of the manhunt for Veerappan. Loyola remembers Veerappan as not being a ‘big issue’ in Tamil Nadu until the ‘The Good Friday massacre’ on April 9, 1993, in which 22 cops were killed. Accounts by several senior police officers state the same too. Though a Tamilian, he operated mostly in Karnataka. Veerappan’s target was an SP – Rambo K Gopalakrishnan, - who was a thorn in his flesh. Gopalakrishnan survived the attack.

This incident, spurred then Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa to announce the formation of Tamil Nadu STF (special task force) formally, with Walter Devaram as its first head. “A clarion call was issued to volunteers. Many sub-inspectors simply wrote ‘joining STF’ in their respective police stations’ general diary and went off to join the force. But, only the finest were picked. Eventually, 250 volunteers from the 60,000-odd personnel in the State police at the time made the cut,” K Vijayakumar (Retd IPS) whose team gunned down the brigand recalls in his book, ‘Veerappan: Chasing the brigand’.

Loyola was among those who volunteered and made the cut. What’s unique was that he was among the very few married men who volunteered to join the STF. Incidentally, many young policemen who had joined the STF had vowed to remain unmarried until Veerappan was caught

“Officers were clear about the challenges and asked those of us who were married to think it through. I had a talk with my wife. I wanted to go to the next step and be part of something meaningful. Plus, we did not have our first child at the time and so I volunteered,” he recalled.

Loyola and Helen got married a year before he joined the police in 1987 and were childless for eight years. “I believed he would to do the right thing. Plus, I got to stay with my parents,” Helen said.

For the next four years, Loyola’s life revolved around jungle patrols, combing operations, misinformation, loss of fellow men to the opposite camp and longing for letters from his wife and the family until February 17, 1996 — arguably, the longest night in their lives.

Bullet’s billet

Within months of its formation, STF, through arrests and ‘other measures’ reduced the members in Veerappan’s gang. In September 1994, at a place, ironically named Sorgam (Heaven), STF had its first casualty, Sub-Inspector Senthil, a constable Ramesh and a havaldar from BSF (Border Security Force), Bhupender Singh. It was around the same time, Loyola and Helen had their first son. After spending a week or so with his newborn, Loyola was back in the forests of Sathyamangalam with his STF team.

A year and four months later, came the longest night for the team. On February 17, 1996, Tamil Selvan, then SP in the STF, called his men from their camp in Sathyamangalam. He had received information about a gang hiding in the Dhimbam hills, which he had wanted to verify. In the SP’s vehicle, Loyola, head constable Selvaraj, constable Raghupathy set off along the Dhimbam Ghat road to join the other team stationed at Hasanur, uphill. When the vehicle was going along the 14th hairpin bend, a truck had a breakdown on the narrow ghat road, affecting traffic.

The SP informed the team at Hasanur STF camp and a police vehicle with SI Mohan Nawaz drove down the hills on which the SP’s team boarded and their vehicle was sent back to Bannari camp. The team then again set off upward along the Dhim- bam-Germalam road. Loyola did not know it that day, but Veerappan himself was part of the gang which rained blows on their vehicle.

Around 5 pm, as twilight started to set in the forest, the police vehicle was ambushed. Bullets were fired from above and from the sides, in which Selvaraj was killed instantly. SP Tamil Selvan was hit on his left hand and lost three fingers. Loyola was hit by a bullet, which pierced his skull and rendered him unconscious immediately. “Despite their injuries, the SP and other cops fired counters and deflected the attackers,” Loyola said. Then, the long wait for help began.

Time is relative

It was at least five hours before help arrived for the injured men. They were first shifted to a hospital in Mysore and then to Malar (now Fortis) hospital in Chennai. Loyola’s comrades in action, Tamil Selvan and SI Mohan Nawaz continued in the STF even after the injuries they sustained. For Loyola, who had a bullet fragment embedded inside his skull, February 17, 1996, was his last day with the STF.

“The department felt that I should not go back. At that time, there was a lapse of concentration and I was also getting psychological treatment. Now I don’t have any effect. But, I’ve taken tablets throughout my life,” Loyola said. A day after the attack, headlines in Tamil newspapers across the State read, ‘Veerappan kootali suttu Selvaraj maranam. Sub Inspector Loyola Kavalaikkidam’ (Attack on STF team; Constable dead; SI Loyola in serious condition).

Helen was three months pregnant with her second son when she read this. Along with Loyola’s elder brother Sahayam and friends, Helen set off from Tirunelveli to the STF camp at Sathyamangalam. There was no other way they could get information quickly then. By the time they reached the place, the injured had been shifted to Mysore.

The family went there, and on reaching the hospital, they were told that Loyola and the injured were shifted to Chennai. “With an 18-month-old in my hip and 3 months pregnant and my husband in death bed, I don’t know how I managed not to break down,” Helen recalled.

After their arduous journey with no information on Loyola’s status, the family members were shocked to know they were not allowed to see Loyola in the ICU. “Sahayam had started fighting with everyone at the hospital, and created a ruckus. SP Tamil Selvan came in a wheelchair and met my family,” he said.

When his brother appealed to the senior cop, the latter had to explain to the family about what transpired. The family was allowed to peek through the door. “My whole body was apparently draped in bandages as if I were a corpse,” Loyola recalled his family telling him. For 3 days, Loyola remained unconscious. The moment he regained consciousness, he was in unbearable pain.

Inside him forever

Loyola recalled having felt like someone was drilling into his head from the inside. He did not cooperate with the nurses and ward staff at the hospital. Eventually, his arms and legs had to be chained so that he could be injected with IV (intravenous) lines.

However, the nurses did not like treating him. “I was chained, but, my mouth was open. I was apparently very abusive. The nurses shared this with me after I started getting better and used to go around in a wheelchair. I had very little memory of it but I apologised to them all,” Loyola said. Helen had remained stoic and did not panic throughout her husband’s stay in the hospital, which had really surprised her in-laws. “What else could I do? I prayed. I was pregnant and generally tired,” Helen recalled.

While she stayed by his side, their eldest child was taken from her and sent to her sister-in-law in Palayamkottai. And, Loyola was not aware that his wife was pregnant with their second child. “Had I died, the society would have blamed him,” he said.

A month later, it was time for Loyola to be sent home. That’s when the neurosurgeon who operated on him, Dr Ravi Ramamoorthy, had a chat with Loyola:

Dr: Do you know the injury you have?

L: Yes, Doctor.

Dr: Do you have something to say?

L: I am getting treatment, but I still have some pain. Will this pain be permanent in my life?

Dr: It will subside in some days. We have given medicines. Any questions?

L: Doctor, some say the pellet inside will give me trouble some day. Maybe, after 5-6 years, it will move, or there will be some reaction inside. Now, I have no idea about medicine. I will listen to whatever you guys (expert doctors) tell me.

Dr: Nothing of that sort. It’s a foreign body. It should not be inside. But, unfortunately it would have to remain there. I will issue medicines so that it does not cause any side effects. Just ensure you stay out of harm’s way.

This conversation and continuous sessions with psychologists coupled with his own faith gave Loyola the confidence to face what was ahead. In six months, the pain totally subsided. But, Loyola had to prepare himself to live with a centimetre-long bullet fragment inside his head for the rest of his life.

Pierced skull only

“According to doctors, the bullet inside my head was from a muzzleload gun.” When Veerappan and his men were shooting from above, a bullet had first hit a metal bar in the police vehicle and then a part of it ricocheted onto Loyola’s skull.

The first hit on the metal had reduced the bullet speed by 50% and the hit on the skull further reduced the velocity. If the bullet had directly hit him with- out hitting another object first, it would have pierced out through the skull. In Loyola’s case, it pierced the skull, but did not touch the brain. “All doctors were amazed I had survived. They said ‘you should have died, or if the bullet had hit the brain, you should have suffered a stroke’.

The bullet locked itself in a non-sensitive area between the skull and the brain. This is a genuine miracle,” Loyola recalled.

A bullet inside his head elicited myriad responses and opinions from friends, family and even from fellow policemen.

But, there weren’t enough qualified neurosurgeons in south Tamil Nadu at that time for him to get second opinions. “Several doctors refused to give opinions as it was a unique case. After more than 20 years of consuming Eptoin (an antiepileptic drug), I recently stopped taking it,” Loyola said.

Heart and spear

As he was getting better and ready for discharge, he received a phone call from Walter Devaram, then Additional Director General of Police (ADGP). When Loyola asked if he could visit the senior cop, the latter told him he could not be posted back to the STF. Devaram also asked him about the direction of his career.

Loyola was posted in his home district, Tirunelveli, as a Sub-Inspector. His second phase of life had begun. Loyola served mostly in southern Tamil Nadu throughout his career, except for brief stints in Chennai as Inspector and Additional Deputy Commissioner. In 2004, while serving in Kanniyakumari, he had a heart attack.

“Luckily, it happened when other cops were present and they quickly got him admitted in the hospital,” Helen said. The heart attack did not lead to anything serious. Six years later, when he was DSP Vilathikulam (Thoothukudi),Loyola had his third major near-death experience.

There was a clash between two communities and the Madurai-Thoothukudi road was blocked. Loyola, who was in the thick of action, was stabbed with a spear, which made a four-inch deep stab wound on his right torso. He also sustained injuries on other parts of the body. With all the roads blocked, a bleeding Loyola had to guide the ambulance driver to take the alternate route.

Memories from his days in Sathyamangalam forests came back to him as he lay semi-conscious in the ambulance seat. “It was the same twilight when I got attacked here too and the shift to hospital was as arduous as the attack itself,” Loyola said. He was taken to a hospital in Thoothukudi, where he was treated for another one month. Here too, doctors were amazed.

Had the spear struck a few inches above, it would have hit the lungs or liver, but it did not strike any vital organ. “You have escaped with a muscle wound,” they told him.

Letika Saran, the first woman IPS officer to become Chennai Police Commissioner and the Head of Police Force of Tamil Nadu was DGP then and she came and visited Loyola at the hospital. “Loyola, this is a second life for you,” the DGP smiled at her officer. Loyola corrected his senior officer, “Madam, it’s my third life actually. I also suffered a heart attack.”

Workaholic

During her visit at the hospital, when the top cop had asked Loyola if there was anything she could do for him, he asked for a transfer to Tirunelveli, to help him follow up with his treatment. To this, the DGP had asked whether she could allot him any Unit posting. “You can take rest,” she told him.

Loyola immediately said, “Madam, I cannot sit behind a desk. No issues, I will serve in Vilathikulam itself.” Within a few days, he was posted as DSP in his own district. As for Helen too, the Vilathikulam stabbing incident was a repeat of the 1996 Sathyamangalam times.

“I learnt about the attack from the news. I watched the news and I realised the hospital was not too far off from home. Plus, one of our relatives was working as a nurse at the hospital in which he was ad- mitted,” Helen said.

Helen did not put it in the exact term, but her description of her husband was that he was a workaholic. Loyola too did not have any deep thoughts on why he did not take a backseat and take up desk jobs despite two life-threatening attacks, apart from the heart attack.

“My parents were illiterates. My elder brothers, who dropped out of school due to family circumstances, pushed me to complete a degree and get a government job. I completed my studies and became a policeman and I wanted to be a reliable one till my retirement. I know that the officers I served with believed that I was reliable,” Loyola said.

Except for a short stint in the Intelligence Section in Tirunelveli at the insistence of the Commissioner, when he came to office in formal clothes, Loyola spent most of his career as a uniformed-officer.

“He had earned a good name. He dedicated his life to the department. In our family, we do not discuss where to go for summer vacation in May. Rather, we listen to him speak about Goondas Act at home,” smiled Helen.

Loyola spends his post-retirement days attending family functions, much to the shock of the relatives. Since he was always on the field during his sons’ formative years, he makes up for lost time by dedicating himself to his grandson. And one can help but wonder about the stories this lucky kid would grow up listening to!

THE GUN VEERAPPAN LOVED

There were 2 types of guns used in the attack against SP Tamil Selvan, Loyola and other cops on the Dhimbam Ghat road – SLR (self-loading rifles), and the country-made muzzle load-and- barrel guns. The SLR is a police weapon and the ones used in the attack was believed to be stolen from the Vellithiruppur police station. “If you look at old photographs of Veerappan, you can see him posing with a SLR,” Loyola said and reminded that the SP and their vehicle took most of the rounds from the SLR.