IPS officer who led encounter that killed terrorist Ghazi Baba passes away at 72
According to the family members, Vijay Raman was admitted to the hospital ICU on September 18 after he had complained about breathlessness
Pune: Vijay Raman, the retired high-profile Indian Police Service (IPS) officer who led the 10-hour encounter that eliminated dreaded terrorist Ghazi Baba, the mastermind behind the Parliament attacks, in Srinagar in 2003, died at Jupiter Hospital in Pune on Friday morning. He was 72.
His last rites were performed during the day in the presence of dignitaries from the government and police departments. Vijay is survived by his wife Veena and son Vikram.
According to the family members, Vijay was admitted to the hospital ICU on September 18 after he had complained about breathlessness. Though he showed signs of improvement, he passed away due to sudden health failure while undergoing treatment.
Abhijit Pendharkar, brother-in-law of Vijay, said, “The family has been staying at Baner in Pune after his retirement in 2011. He was detected with cancer in February this year. His last posting was as additional director general of police (ADGP) of Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF), incharge of anti-Naxal operations.”
Belonging to the Madhya Pradesh cadre, the 1975-batch officer spearheaded the 14-hour police encounter as superintendent of police (SP) that killed dacoit Paan Singh Tomar on October 1, 1981.
Ravi, the younger brother of Vijay and an ex-army officer from Armoured Corps, said that he was an inspiration for his two younger brothers. “We looked up to him as a role model. Our father groomed him in such a way, and he led by example,” he said.
“His first adventure was Paan Singh encounter as SP Bhind. He was in the Special Protection Group (SPG) and founder member of the elite VIP Protection Group. He has served as Inspector General (IG) security and IG, Border Security Force (BSF), in Jammu and Kashmir. We hail from Kerala. He underwent three cycles of chemotherapy for lung cancer and was on palliative care during the last days of treatment,” he said.
Raman’s posting as Special Branch SP during 1984 is known for the active role he played in rescuing and assisting the Bhopal Gas Tragedy victims. From 1985 to 1995, he worked as assistant director and deputy director of the Special Protection Group (SPG) and handled the security of four prime ministers, including Rajiv Gandhi, VP Singh, Chandra Shekhar and PV Narsimha Rao.
He was also instrumental in the surrender of the dacoits Phoolan Devi and Malkhan Singh.
The gallantry officer holds the Guinness World Record and Limca Record in circumnavigation around the world by a made-in-India car in 1993.
