Bengaluru: The death of an upright IAS officer D.K. Ravi has shocked the nation. Throughout his career he did make powerful enemies, having raided several well-known real estate developers for various wrongdoings. Former don Agni Sreedhar, who was at the helm of the city’s underworld for many years, talks about how this shadow system functions and whether or not Ravi’s death could have been brought about by mob connections. He also explains, like he did in his autobiographical work, My Days in the Underworld, the rules that govern organised crime and its links to the political class.

In connection with the death of IAS officer D.K. Ravi alleged links to Home Minister K.J. George have emerged. The nexus between politicians and the underworld is well known, please elaborate on this?

Ministers, especially those at K.J. George’s level, don’t entertain the underworld, whether they are rowdies or dons. However, MLAs and corporators and people on the lower rungs of the political ladder do usually make contact. Even if there is a connection between a top-level minister and a don, it is done through his aides and his henchmen, never directly. Besides, with the media being what it is today, there is very little chance of a well-known face making contact with the underworld and getting away with it.

Why is it necessary for politicians to make contact with the underworld at all?

Politicians make contact because they know that society, at some level, respects the underworld. I believe that prostitution and the underworld are both nurtured by the system and its shortcomings.

Why would society nurture the underworld at all?

There are many reasons. Often the police and the courts don’t yield results. Litigation problems, tenants refusing to vacate a home - these are cases which can take years in a court and amount to nothing in the end. If someone gives away his life savings in a loan to someone he trusts and doesn’t get it back, what can the police do? This is when even a law-abiding citizen feels the need to approach the underworld, thereby nurturing it.

How does the underworld really work? Can an innocent man like D.K. Ravi, who did make powerful enemies, become a victim of organised crime?

Members of the underworld do kill, yes, but this intimidation and murder is restricted to other dons. It is unheard of for an ordinary man, especially one who is doing his duty, to be killed off by the mob.

D.K. Ravi raided a lot of powerful real estate developers. Is it possible then that he made enemies who had the power to pull strings and have him finished off?

People have a very bloated notion of the underworld. No don will ever consider, even in his wildest dreams, crossing paths with an IAS officer. Very honestly, making contact with an IPS officer or a politician is more plausible than a bureaucrat. Politicians come and go, but an IAS officer will remain in a powerful position within the system for decades. Getting in a bureaucrat’s way, therefore, is simply out of the question, especially one like Mr Ravi, who was merely doing his duty.

So there is no chance, then, that his death might have had underworld links?

Don’t even consider the possibility. Whether he is corrupt or clean, a bureaucrat with mob links is very far fetched, especially when he works out of the Vidhana Soudha, protected by the state. After retirement it is a different matter, but even then, I doubt it.