Early this morning (21 June 2012), I received a text message from someone we both know well that you are no more with us. We did find out a few days earlier that you were fighting a lung infection. To be honest, I did not take it too seriously. What could a lung infection do, when you have fought the various militant groups in J&K during the peak of militancy during the 1990s, and chased the LTTE killers of Rajiv Gandhi all over South India during your different postings? It took time for me to realize that you are not with us anymore.

Sir, you were a sincere and honest police officer of the J&K cadre. Although I met you much later in my research career, I became familiar with your name during my field research work. Your name would repeatedly crop up amongst the Kashmiris and the rest of J&K in reference by the locals to the few honest officers in the state. This was perhaps why you were chosen as one of the first Central Vigilance Commissioners of the state.

More than the sincerity and honesty, you believed in the J&K police (JKP), even during its worst time, especially when it was going through a tough phase in the 1990s and the early part of the last decade. You sincerely believed that the change could come, mainly through the local police and not through the para-military or military. In fact, you believed this to be true in any other conflict situation within India -whether in the Northeast or in the Naxal region – that change could come only through the local police. How perceptive you were!

One of your great regrets was that the other state police forces had not tapped the potential of the JKP to learn from the Kashmiri experience. You did not believe in keeping the experience and knowledge that you have gained a secret – both personally and professionally. You always wanted others to learn from the mistakes, failures and successes of the JKP.

Sir, you were also a great man of details, with an elephantine memory. You could explain every incident in three dimensions (at times, even in multi-dimensions), taking the listener to the actual time and place, though it might have taken place ten or fifteen years earlier. Who was standing were? What was he/she wearing? Who were accompanying the person in the discussion? What was the climate? What did the person say and how did the others present respond to it? You would recollect every single detail of what happened in Anantnag, when you were serving as the DIG, or in Bangalore, when you were chasing the killers of Rajiv Gandhi. You were a man of minute details.

When the book on Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination was being compiled almost ten years after the investigation was over, you would remember every single detail, every place, every street and corner, every vehicle and its make, every interrogator and his/her background, every tip, whether successful or unsuccessful.

You also believed in thorough investigation. More importantly, ‘fair’ investigation. You would repeatedly stress that the success of countering militancy lies in methodic investigation, leading to a successful trial and legal indictment. In fact you would always say that the real fight is not on the streets or in jungles with militants. You would repeat without fail, as if it was the most important commandment in your personal bible – that the change would come with thorough and methodic investigation leading to a fair trial.

Perhaps this self-imposed commandment was the primary reason for your success and that of your team in the Rajiv Gandhi assassination case. Though I sensed a kind of admiration in you for the LTTE for being an effective organization, you always considered it a murderous terrorist organisation. Of course, you would never let you personal likes and admiration colour your professional judgment. Your colleagues in the Special Investigation Team (SIT) would tell stories about your passion and search for small details, which helped not only to crack a blind assassination case, but would also provide enough evidence before the court to obtain justice through impeccable investigation. It is no wonder then that you were chosen as the first Director General of India's National Investigation Agency (NIA).

More importantly, Sir, you were a great human being. When I met you for the first time, just as a student from JNU and a researcher from the IPCS, you led me into your office as if you were meeting Huntington! You would receive an amateur journalist and a leading political leader with the same smile and warmth. You remained a simple person, even though the office and the chair you were holding were really imposing. You never let your chair dictate your mind.

And when you retired, after being the first director of the newly formed NIA, you transformed into a scholar with just as much ease. In your multiple writings for the IPCS, one could easily see the importance you would give to details and minutiae, without missing the larger picture. In fact, there would be volumes of correspondence between you and the IPCS editorial board before the publication of your essays - for you, every word had a meaning and every sentence was placed in a particular sequence.

One big regret I will always personally have, as will my Institute, is that we could not tap the scholar in you sufficiently. Yes, Sir, you were a scholar-police man. You believed that policing does not only involve addressing a law and order situation or militancy. When many believed in keeping their knowledge gain a secret and kept reports totally classified, you believed in communicating and also learning from the experiences of others. You were the brain behind initiating a dialogue between the JKP and IPCS as a part of reaching out to the rest of world and also in turn learning from them. You believed in openness and learning from others. You not only believed, but also took steps to implement what you believed. The reports that IPCS has published on the interactions in J&K would stand as living proof.

And finally, you were a great friend to your colleagues and an absolute team player. You walked with a small group of titans in J&K, at a time when there was pettiness surrounding you in the state. You worked as a team with some great minds in contemporary J&K. You found the team, or the team found you – either way, you worked together with much passion, energy, enthusiasm and warmth. The peace dividend in J&K today is the result of the turn around you helped bring along with the rest in your team. Yet, like the other titans who silently worked for this change, you would remain in the background and let others bask in the glory that is rightly yours.

Besides working with your contemporaries the J&K and elsewhere in the rest of India, you also always ensured that there was a smooth transition. You identified a few young officers, invested in and nurtured them. They are your legacy today. And is there a better compliment to anyone than to have a legacy? Yes, you may have come from the backwaters of Kerala but you managed to make a mark in the Himalayas, and leave a lasting legacy.

Who says that you have left us? Though we will miss your smile, your warmth, your insistence for details in seminar rooms, your illustrious contributions to the ACSA programme at the IPCS, we know that your presence will always be felt. We are proud of you, Sir.