Murder suspect among 39 Indians 'missing' in Israel

A former sarpanch and important leader in the Kammarpalli mandal of Nizamabad district, B. Rajeswara Rao, who was accused of killing a Congress party Zilla Parishad Territorial Constituency (ZPTC) member, Chinta Dharmapuri, is believed to be among 39 Indian farmers reported to either be missing or detained in Israel since October for overstaying there.

Two farmers from the Velpur village, who managed to return home to Andhra Pradesh narrated their experience after they were detained by Israeli police confirmed that Rajeswara Rao continued to be either detained there or was somehow evading arrest.

The Congress party ZPTC member was kidnapped and subsequently murdered in the Metpalli area of Karimnagar district in January. Later the Adilabad police arrested two former activists of the Communist Party of India-Marxist-Leninist-Janashakti group who confessed that some political leaders in Kammarpalli were bent on eliminating Rao.

The returning farmers believe he may have actually escaped to Israel under the cover of joining the group of farmers on a study tour.

When the police came upon the clues that some important Telugu Desam Party (TDP) leaders were involved in the murder from the information they got from the former Naxalites, they launched a manhunt for the former sarpanch when they first heard of the Israel trip.

The group of 39 farmers went to Israel to study the latest farming techniques, including drip irrigation. Ten farmers were arrested by the Israeli police after their visas expired. Some of them were identified as Rajeswar, Srinivas, Ramakrishna, Gangadhar from Padigal village, Ramesh and Ashok from Velpur and their agents N.C. Gangaram and P.P. Gangaram.

Only those who had return tickets were sent back to India and the rest kept in the custody of the police. It is believed here that about 29 farmers whose visas also expired are moving about trying to evade the Israeli police.

The five farmers who returned safely said the two agents collected nearly Rs8 million from all the 39 farmers on the assurance that their visas would be given to them soon. Police in Nizamabad have registered cases against them.

The state government's programme to send Legislators and VIPs on foreign study tours to the Far East is blamed for the latest fiasco as police say many greedy persons have begun making quick money promising such learning tours.

Some TDP leaders replaced the farmers in the list with unemployed youth after collecting Rs2 million from each of the unfortunate young men. When officials in Israel failed to trace these 'farmers' who went to 'study' there, they alerted the local police.

According to a PTI report, the farmers were in Israel as guests of the Netaffim Irrigation Equipment and Drip Systems company and were having a 10-day visa.

However, 39 members were found "missing" from their hotel in the coastal city of Netanya, north of Tel Aviv, sending alarm bells among immigration authorities there. They were supposed to have left for India on November 4.