The Idol Thief by Kumar & S. Vijay

Author:Kumar & S. Vijay [Kumar & Vijay, S.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Juggernaut Books
Published: 2020-06-02T00:00:00+00:00

Second note from Subhash Kapoor to Aaron Freedman

Was Subhash Kapoor attempting to blackmail an officer of the Idol Wing in a last-ditch attempt to save his own skin? How deep was the rot in the system?

Even if Subhash Kapoor was trying to blackmail someone, threatening to spill some beans on them, his case was far too advanced and high profile to be thwarted now. The Ministry of External Affairs, along with the Idol Wing, set in motion the process to extradite Subhash.

Undeterred, Kapoor filed an audacious case in the Madras High Court while he was locked up in Germany through his sister, Sushma Rani Sareen, to whom he had given power of attorney. The case challenged the legality of the non-bailable arrest warrant issued by the Indian authorities that would lead to his extradition. His arguments? In brief that ‘The attempt to extradite the petitioner [Subhash Kapoor] based upon the confession statement of the co-accused [Sanjeevi Asokan] was bad.’

The judge’s response: ‘The contention raised that the confession of the co-accused cannot be relied cannot be accepted. The confession of the co-accused if it implicated him, it is also admissible in evidence.’ Kapoor’s petition was dismissed.11

But he didn’t give up – his lawyers went to the Supreme Court in June 2012. But the apex court, too, refused to quash the non-bailable warrant. The court told Kapoor: ‘You are a north Indian while all other accused are from the south. Why would they take your name during the questioning by police? The business you have in New York has some nexus with the case. In this situation, we cannot grant any relief.’12

It seemed that Subhash Kapoor would at last face justice in India.

Finally, on 14 July 2012, a team of Idol Wing police officers landed at Chennai airport, along with Kapoor. Clad in black trousers and blue shirt, Kapoor smiled at the reporters waiting there as he was escorted out by the police team to prison.

But his old friend Sanjeevi Asokan wasn’t there to give him company. Early on, in an unbelievable twist to the story, despite Selvaraj’s best efforts, and the incriminating evidences against the well-connected Sanjeevi, he was granted bail. In March 2018, Sanjeevi would again be arrested, for another set of suspected crimes. He is still under trial and the cases against him have not been decided.

These days Kapoor spends his days with the other inmates in a prison in Chennai while his trials continue apace. But for a man who was once the toast of the New York cocktail circuit, gone are the fine bespoke suits and silk ties. Subhash can be spotted with tousled hair and a days-old stubble in the prison yard wearing a blue T-shirt and brown shorts. Apparently, he has been exempted from wearing the regulation white prison uniform. A small favour for the big fish. As The Hindu noted in 2017, ‘The 69-year-old Subhash Kapoor doesn’t look the part of a man said to be the kingpin of an international gang of idol thieves.

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