EXOPLANETS

 

What is an Exoplanet? It is a planet that orbits a star other than the Sun.

Till the 1990’s all the planets we knew were in orbit around the Sun. Since the year 1992, astronomers have discovered many Exoplanets. Based on the data at our disposal there could be hundreds of billions of Exoplanets in the Milkyway alone.

The first discovered Exo planets were much bigger than Jupiter and were detected by their gravity tugging the star they orbit. Some were found by light difference in the star when the Exo planet passes between earth and the star they orbit. Most Exo planets we know of are rocky planets much larger than the earth known as super earths or mini Neptunes which are made up of compressed gases. These type of planets do not occur in our solar system, so researchers do not know how different they are from the worlds we know. As of today there are 6022 confirmed Exoplanets in 4490 planetary systems.

About 1 in 5 stars have an earth like planet in the habitable zone. The Milkyway has about 200 billion stars. Based on that there would potentially be 11 billion such planets in our Galaxy.

The nearest Exoplanets discovered are orbiting Proxima Centauri, the nearest star to our Sun at a distance on 4.2 light years.

Many Exo planet systems are tightly packed with their innermost planet orbiting the star much closer than Mercury does. As of now we do not know why such solar systems are more common in our galaxy and why they are not like ours.

Astronomers have found many Exoplanets in their stars habitable zones; ie those zones where liquid water is likely to exist coupled with proper kind of atmosphere. So far the planets discovered are much larger than earth or the star is much smaller and redder than our Sun which would emanate much less heat. With the methods we are adopting to find Exoplanets, it is much more difficult to find Exoplanets of Earth’s size. Upcoming observations are designed to find Exoplanets with greater sensitivity which would let us see more earth sized worlds allowing us to compare them with our Solar system.

However, more than their size, far more essential is the chemical composition of their atmosphere before we can know if it can support life. So far we could not study the surfaces of Exoplanets. Whatever information we got is when the time the Exoplanet transits its star. Then, the gases of the planet absorbed or emitted by its atmospheric gases astronomers can identify some molecules like water, Oxygen or Methane. But it is a very difficult process because the planets are too small and too far away for allowing us to make any precise observations.

The Giant Magellan Telescope (GMT), is an Extremely Large Telescope (ELT) and is a ground based telescope currently under construction at Chile’s Las Campanas Observatory in the Atacama desert. It has an altitude of 2516 Meters. The construction of this telescope would be completed by the year 2030. It is a reflecting telescope and the diameter of the mirror of the telescope would be 1000 inches (25.4 Mtrs) whereas the largest optical telescope ever built till now only has a mirror with a diameter of 406 inches.  This is for observation in optical and mid infrared wavelengths. The GMT would contain 7 of the world’s largest mirrors and its resolving power is 10 times that of the Hubble Space Telescope and 4 times that of the James Webb Space Telescope. However, it would not have the observing power of the Space Telescopes in the infrared region. The GMT would be used to observe a wide range of phenomena including the search for signs of life on Exoplanets and study of the cosmic origin of chemical elements.

Las Campanas has exceptional astronomic seeing conditions and clear weather through much of the year. The area is also very sparsely populated combined with favourable geographical conditions ensures minimal atmospheric and light pollution.

We still have a long way to go in discovering Exoplanets and those among them that are habitable, and it may yet take a long time, but we are on the job.

 

EAST GODAVARI DISTRICT HISTORY PART-I

The Rajahmundry district was created in 1802 which included the current East Godavari, West Godavari, Krishna and Guntur Districts and was a part of the Madras Presidency. From this, the Godavari District was established in 1859 with Kakinada as its headquarters.

This Godavari district was formed by reorganising the Collectorates of Rajahmundry, Masulipatam and Guntur into Godavari and Krishna districts.

East Godavari district is the residuary district of Godavari district when the West Godavari district was separated from it in the year 1925.

Chandragupta Maurya the founder of the Mauryan dynasty, got control of the Empire which included large parts of the Deccan plateau. He was succeeded by his son Bindusara ( 297-272 BC) who conquered the Andhra country lying south of Kalinga. This is corroborated by the works of the poets of the Sangam age. 

Bindusra’s son and successor Ashoka claimed the Andhra’s are one of those who subjected to his authority. The district passed on to the Satavahanas after the fall of the Mauryan dynasty. 

Hala of the Satavahana dynasty led an expedition against Draksharama in 6-7 AD. The rule of Gautamiputra Satakarni (62-86 AD) and Vasishtiputra Pulomavi ( 86-114 AD) & Yajnasri Satakarni ( 128-157 AD) over this district is known through their coins.

Thereafter nothing is known about what happened in the district till the invasion of Samudragupta in 350 AD. At this period the eastern Deccan was cut into a number of minor kingdoms of which 2 belonged to this district; with Pishtapura & Avamukta as capitals. Samudragupta fought with both Mahendra of Pishtapura and Nilaraja of Avamukta. Samudragupta defeated Nilaraja of Avamukta in many battles.

Mahendra of Pishtapura traced his descent from the Magadha dynasty of Mahapadmananda. Avamukta is identified as the upper Godavari region of the district and Pishtapura with the present Pithapuram. 

The continued existence of Pishtapura even after this period is proved by the inscriptions of the subsequent period. 7 Kings of the Mathara Kula whose names ending with Varman and bearing the title Kalingadhipati are known from their inscriptions and their rule went on from 375 AD to 500 AD. The earliest known ruler of this dynasty was Maharaja Saktivarman. He was succeeded by Ananta Saktivarman. Later these kings had a fight with the Simhapura (Srikakulam) kingdom, conquered it and moved over to the North.

In the 1^st Quarter of the 5^th century AD the kingdom fell into the hands of Vishnukundins under Vikramendavarma I. Their dominion extended over Visakhapatnam, West Godavari, Krishna, Guntur and East Godavari districts. The greatest of the 9 Vishnukundin kings was Madhavavarma I. 

One Ranadurjaya was allowed to rule the Pishtapura kingdom as a vassal by these kings. Ranadurjaya was succeeded by his son Vikramendra (whom he named after his benefactor) who was followed by his son Pruthvimaharaja.

Later the area of Pishtapura was conquered by Raja Anantavarman of Vasishta kula. This was resisted by the Vishnukundin king Indrabhattaraka who defeated them and restored back the kingdom.

The early Gangas of Kalinga who were just then becoming stronger enlisted the help of all the kings defeated earlier by Indrabhattaraka  and he was not only routed in this battle, he also lost his life. With this defeat, the Vishnukundin power was extinguished in Visakhapatnam and Godavari districts. His successor Vishnukundin kings tried to regain the lost territory of Kalinga but to no avail.

In the meantime the Durjayas pushed out the Vishnukundins from Vengivishaya ( Eluru). However, their rule was rather brief as Pulakesin II of the Western Chalukyas of Badami attacked Pishtapura and reduced it to submission. In a token of appreciation of his contribution of his brother Kubjavishnu, Pulakesin II granted him the newly conquered territories of the East including Pishtapura. The Eastern Chalukyan dynasty founded by Kubjavishnu ruled from Pishtapura and not from Vengi. This was later shifted to Vengi and then to Rajahmundry by the Eastern Chalukyas.   

The kingdom of Vengi at its greatest extent comprised the area between the Mahendra mountains (Eastern Ghats) in Kalinga to Manneru river in Nellore. Its western boundary ran along the foot of the Eastern Ghats.

Nothing is known about the early Chalukyas till we come to Bhima I (892-921 AD) who has built the Shiva Temple at Draksharama.  

After that there was a civil war for power in the Eastern Chalukya kingdom and Amma I was victorious in the war and ruled the kingdom for 7 years. There were continuous attacks by the Rashtrakutas on Vengi (near Eluru) and therefore Amma I laid the foundation stone of Rajahmundry on the other side of the Godavari. However, this foundation does not have any historical evidence and it might have taken place during the time of the Chalukya Kings Vijayaditya and Rajaraja who succeeded Amma I. One thing is certain; any of these 3 kings laid the foundation stone for Rajahmundry. Tradition points to Rajaraja and therefore we can accept that.

Amma I was succeeded by his son Vijayaditya V who was deposed just 15 days after accession. He took refuge at Pithapuram where he founded a dynasty.

In 973 AD the Eastern Chalukyan ruler Danarnava was killed and Vengi was occupied by Jata Choda Bheema of Pedakallu in Kurnool district. He ruled from 973 AD to 1000 AD. 

The 2 sons of Danarnava Saktivarman I and Vimaladitya fled and took refuge with Rajaraja Chola I who was waiting for an opportunity extend his influence over the coastal area. He gave his daughter Kundavai in marriage to the younger Vimaladitya and invaded Vengi during the year 999-1000 with the idea of restoring Saktivarman I to the throne of Vengi. In the war Jatachoda Bheema was killed and the Kingdom of Vengi became a vassal of Rajaraja I.

However, this Ascenscion of the Cholas at Vengi in this fashion was not liked by Satyasraya the ruler of the Western Chalukyas at Kalyani and for the next 135 years there were intermittent wars between the Western Chalukyas and Cholas. In the process, the Eastern Chalukyas themselves seem to have receded into the background. During the rein of Rajadhiraja I, the Cholas seem to have lost Vengi and also a portion of Kalinga to the Western Chalukyas of Kalyani.

During the rule of Vijayaditya VII, the last king of the Eastern Chalukyas, the Vengi kingdom was invaded by Chedi King of Dahala, Yasahkarnadeva in 1073 AD.  He bestowed gifts to the temple at Draksharama. With the death of Vijayaditya VII in the war in 1075AD, the Eastern Chalukyan dynasty ended and Vengi became a part of the Chola Empire.                 

NEW INTERSTELLAR OBJECT-ATLAS/31

A new Comet known as 31/ATLAS ( Asteroid Terrestrial Impact Last Alert System) is approaching the solar system.....this was spotted by Astronomers on 1st of July....

So many comets appear and disappear but the thing that is special about this comet is that it does not belong to our solar system and is coming into it from interstellar space....which means it is from another star.....till now our telescopes had an opportunity to view only 2 such objects from close quarters and they are the Comet "Oumuamua" in the year 2017 and 21/Borisov discovered in the year 2019.....that makes it only the 3rd interstellar object entering our solar system...

This would give our Astronomers a good opportunity to study an object from another star and not the sun ....

The comet is travelling in a hyperbolic orbit which would carry it away from our solar system and it is therefore once in a lifetime event....it is travelling at a speed of 58 Km/Sec relative to the Sun...it only has a diameter of about 1Km...its closest approach to the Sun would be on 29th October at which time it would be at a distance of over 20 crore Km from the Sun...

We say relative to the Sun because the entire Universe is in motion and only the relative speeds of such an interstellar object can be measured.....

Our earth revolves around the Sun and so does the entire solar system.....in turn the Solar system revolves around the centre of our Galaxy the Milky Way at a speed of 230 Km/Sec....

The Milky Way Galaxy in turn is in turn moving at a speed of about 580 Km/Sec.....also it is continuously expanding....

So in the Universe everything is in relative motion and the speed of any object can be measured only by reference to a particular point....we take that relative point as the Sun because that is valid for us to perceive....

WILL EARTH BE HIT BY AN ASTEROID OF SUBSTANTIAL SIZE

 I am generally fond of Astronomy. When I was going through some videos on youtube I found this video which I had shared above and it made me feel disturbed. Then I thought that I should investigate a little more about the probability of earth taking such a hit.

The latest meteor impact occurred at Kali in Estonia around 700 BC. Multiple craters were formed at the site of impact by the meteor with an estimated velocity of 15 km/s and a mass of around 50 MT. The main crater formed by the impact is 100 meters across with a depth of 22 meters.

Asteroids with a diameter of over 50 meters strike the earth every 1000 years-------- One such strike took place in 1908 at Tunguska in Siberia. This is the largest impact event over land in Earth's recent history. Luckily the impact occurred in a forest and trees in the surrounding area with a diameter of 8 KM got affected. The general agreement among scientists is that this meteor is a few tens of meters across.

Asteroids with an average diameter of 1KM strike the earth every 500,000 years.

Bigger collisions with asteroids 5 KM in diameter occur once every 10 million years-------- The smallest of these impacts would generate 20,000 times as much energy as the greatest bomb ever produced by us and leave a crater 95 km across. One such strike is supposed to have wiped out the Dinosaur population from the earth 6.5 million years ago.

The largest meteor impact crater on the earth is the Barringer crater in the Arizona desert formed 50,000 years ago. This is 1200 meters across and 170 meters deep. This is believed to have been caused by a meteor weighing 150,000 MT at the time of striking the earth and an impact speed of 13 KM/hr.

There are only 3 asteroids with diameters of 500 KM and over that can cause the devastation that is shown in the video. They are 1) Ceres-Dia 952 KM, 2) 2Pallas- 544 KM, 3) 4Vesta-529 KM. Luckily for us none of them have any chance of colliding with the earth. Of the asteroids Vesta is the only one that attains brightness that is is visible to the naked eye.

The TORINO SCALE is a scale for measuring the possibility of an asteroid or a comet hitting the earth. This is valuated between 0 and 10.

On this scale a collision is certain if the object reaches 8 on the scale. None of the objects evaluated by astronomers till date managed to cross 1 till the Asteroid Aphophis did so in 2004. In fact at one time Aphophis was upgraded to 4 which means a 1% chance of a collision capable of regional devastation. With later observations however, it has been downgraded to 0.

Subsequently another asteroid 2004 VD 17 reached a level of 2, but subsequent observations made the scientist downgrade it to 0. All the asteroids discovered earlier have been downgraded to 0. Incidentally, a 0 level indicates almost nil chances of impact.

Presently there are only 3 asteroids with a risk level of 1. Level 1 means a collision is highly unlikely.

The asteroid 2007 VK184 discovered in 2007 has a probability of 1 in 3030 to hit the earth. It has a diameter of 130 meters and travels at a speed of 16KM/Hr.

The asteroids 2011 AG5 and 2011 BM45 discovered in Feb 2011 are rated 1.

Considering the above data it is highly unlikely in the near future that earth would be hit a by an asteroid of substantial size to cause lasting damage.

THE NIRA RADIA TAPES.-A LADY WHOSE PERSUASIONS NO ONE CAN RESIST-

 

This woman truly fascinates me. If she could impress so many top people with her persuasive skills and get things done so easily, she must have had something very special in her which very few would have. How could she use so many top people and make them do whatever she wanted. So much so, that even Mukesh Ambani outsourced all the PR work of Reliance Industries to her. She might have been discredited but she has a very impressive personality.

The NIRA RADIA tapes revealed in 2009 involved a huge scandal. They are telephonic conversations between Nira Radia, a political lobbyist in India, the Telecom Minister A Raja, Senior journalists, politicians in India and Corporate houses. Her influence spread to key ministries in the central cabinet.

Nira Radia (formerly Nira Menon (Manan) ) was born at Nairobi in Kenya into a Punjabi Hindu business family. In the 1970’s she moved to London along with her family where she studied at the University of Warwick. She married a Gujarati businessman Janak Radia in 1981 with whom she had 3 sons after which they divorced in 1994. She then moved to India as a Person of Indian Origin. Before that she established some travel and aviation companies all of which went bankrupt and were liquidated.

In 1994 she was sent by her father to India to help the Sahara Airlines CEO to acquire 2 Boeing 737-400 aircraft and she liaisoned with a Los Angeles based leasing company for financing the planes.   

In 1995 she was hired by Sahara Airlines as an aviation consultant and she hired an office at Delhi for operations. On behalf of Sahara Airlines she successfully negotiated with the India Gandhi International Airport at Delhi. There she met Dheearaj Singh, the grandson of former CM of Haryana Rao Birendra Singh who was then with Sahara Airlines.

Later she made him quit Sahara and join her as a partner in her firm at Mumbai where she moved to. In 1996, she also arranged funding for a Hindi film “Agni Sakshi” to Bal Thackeray’s son.  She and Dheeraj Singh arranged for a 25 million USD deal for Sahara to purchase 4 helicopters from Eurocopter in Bahrain. They got a big commission on the deal which they routed through ‘Sofema” a French company.

This Bahrain trip estranged Dheeraj Singh and his wife and they had an acrimonious divorce. Then Nira Radia, her previous 3 children with Janak Radia, her sister and even Dheeraj Singh started staying in her estate in Bombay. To some people shje introduced Dheeraj Singh as her husband.

When the 1998 elections brought BJP to power, Ananth Kumar became the Civil Aviation Minister and she became close to him. He introduced her to Swami Vishwesha Teertha who became her spiritual guru.

In the same year she set up a firm Radia Incorporated and became its CEO. KLM UK hired the firm for return of 2 aircraft leased to one company in India. With lightning speed she swept aside the legal tangles for the deal and got the aircraft released. For that she earned a commission of Rs 2.5 crores. ( In 1998 that was a big sum).

She again arranged a deal for purchase of helicopters by the Karnataka government in 2001 for Rs 23 crores.

In 1999 she made Ananth Kumar, the Minister for civil aviation to block a deal of Jet Aiways to purchase 5 ATR aircraft. Then she approached ATR and struck a deal for getting the aircraft supplied for Rs1.85 crores. She then got them released. She then opened a Swiss Bank account as well as an account in Channel Islands for that money.

In April 1999 Radia persuaded Ananthkumar to alter the policy to switch over from Boeing to Airbus for purchase of 39 aircraft for the Indian Airlines. But elections were approaching then and when Radia’s closeness to Ananthkumar has become known and rumours began to float that he was trying to alter the policy of the airlines for her. So he was removed from his ministerial position.       

In the year 2000 Singapore airlines was negotiating with the Civil Aviation ministry and approached Radia who got it done. Singapore Airlines was at that time in talks with Ratan Tata for a stake in air India and they put in a good word for her to Ratan Tata.

In the year 2000, Radia tried to start her own airlines but failed as she could not show transparency in funding of the airline. She tried again in 2004. She could not get approval due to her foreign citizenship.

In the year 2000, Ratan Tata could not get a stake for Air India from Singapore Airlines and looking to the smooth way she handled the Singapore Airlines Transaction with the Civil Aviation Ministry, offered all the 90 Tat group accounts to Radia and she set up Vaishnavi Corporate Communications Pvt. Ltd in 2001 for PR work. Apart from the Tata group, she also handled the accounts of Unitech group, Confederation of Indian Industry, Hindustan Construction Company and the GMR group.

From 2005 to 2009 Radia caught hold of many retiring top Bureaucrats and pulled them into her Company. They are, former Chairman of AAI, former secretary Department of Industrial Policy & Promotion (DIPP), former secretary of Civil Aviation, former secretary of New and Renewable Energy. She certainly got hold of an illustrious catch.

In 2007 Radia incorporated another company Noesis Strategic Consulting Pvt. Ltd. with another former chairman of the AAI, former Finance secretary and former chairman of TRAI. Noesisi’s clients included Tata Teleservices, Tata Communications Ltd., Vedanta Resources and the Government of Oman. In 2008, Mukesh Ambani  outsourced all of Reliance Industries public relations to her and she setup Neucom Consulting just for that purpose.  

These conversations were taped by the IT Department in the year 2008-09 for 300 days after prior approval from the Home Ministry as a part of their investigation into money laundering, restricted financial practices and tax evasion. These were leaked later to the press. Nira Radia used to run a public relations firm “Vaishnavi Communications” which was investigated by the CBI.

In 2009 the tapes formed the foundation of the 2G Spectrum case in which the Government was accused of selling scarce radio spectrum at throwaway prices to ineligible companies. The CAG pegged the loss at Rs 1,76,000 crores.

In the year 2010, a magazine reported the transcripts of the conversations, which were promptly denied by most of them.

The CBI had 5851 conversations by Nira Radia, taped in 300 days time, of which some of them are for brokering a deal in the 2G spectrum. In the tapes several prominent people were heard in conversation with Radia.

Among them prominent were

Politicians:

1.      Ranjan Bhattacharya, foster son in law of Vajpayee.

2.      Kanimozhi

3.      A Raja

4.      Arun Jaitley

Journalists:

1.      Barkha Dutt

2.      Prabhu Chawla

3.      Shaknar Aiyer

4.      Vir Sanghvi

5.      Navika Kumar

6.      Rohini Singh

7.      Casual conversations with Editors of Times of India, Economic Times and the Hindu Business line.

Others:

1.      Ratan Tata

2.      Suhel Seth

In a blackout most of the Indian TV Channels & Newspapers blacked out the news of the tapes. So the news got circulated by Facebook and Twitter.

Initially only the Deccan Herald and Indian Express wrote about the tapes. Most of the other magazines said that the authenticity of the tapes cannot be ascertained. Most of the big newspapers and the TV news media blacked out the story.

Obviously all the journalists named denied their role and said they did nothing. This is a huge scam which the media conveniently brushed under the carpet. And both the big political parties were  involved in it.

The CBI might have said to the SC that there is nothing incriminating in the Nira Radia Tapes, but indeed there si a lot in them which was never fully made public.

On account of the Nira Radia tapes the Communications Minister A. Raja had to resign for his involvement in the 4 G scam. So in all she proved to be the nemesis for 2 central cabinet ministers; Ananth Kumar and A. Raja.

THE SANJIV BHATT CASE- GODHRA AFTERMATH

 

Sanjiv Bhatt claims that he is a Kashmiri Pandit. He did his M Tech from IIT Bombay after which he was selected for the IPS in 1988. 

In the year 1990 as an ASP he detained 150 people in order to contain riot in Jamnagar district. Of them Prabhudas Vaishnani had to be hospitalised where he died of kidney failure. His brother lodged an FIR against Bhatt and 6 other policemen alleging that his brother had been tortured in police custody. 

In the year 1996 as the SP of Banaskantha district he was accused of framing a Rajasthan based lawyer Sumer Singh Rajpurohit in a narcotics case. The National Human Rights Commission found him guilty in that case and fined him Rs 1 lac. 

Bhatt was pally with Gujarat High Court Judge R R Jain whose sister Amribai owned a shop in the market of Pali town. Rajpurohit was the tenant of that shop which he did not vacate and he was kidnapped by Bhatt. Incidentally the Judge RR Jain was also suspended by the SC later. 

Bhatt testified against Modi in the post Godhra riots case by filing an affidavit stating that he along with 6 other officers were present at a meeting at the residence of PM Modi where Modi asked them to go slow on the rioters. 

The affidavit carried the signature of KD Panth his driver and constable. In June 2011 Bhatt filed an FIR against Bhatt stating that Bhatt has threatened him and forced him to file the false affidavit. He also stated that he was taken to the residence of the state President of the Congress who also asked him to obey Bhatt. He also said that he was on leave in February 2002 when the riots broke out. Only Taracahnd Yadav the driver of K Chakravarthi testified that Bhatt came in the car and that Panth was also with him. 

In the year 2003 Bhatt was posted as Superintendent of Sabarmati central Jail. There he became very popular among prisoners. He introduced desserts like Gajar ka Halwa in the menu  and nominated the Godhra accused on a jail committee. 2 months after his appointment he was transferred for being too friendly with the prisoners and giving favours to them. In November 2003, nearly half of the 4000 prisoners in the jail went on a hunger strike of 6 days to protest his transfer.6 convicts also slashed their wrists in protest. 

In the year 2008, the SC has appointed an SIT headed by former CBI Chief Raghavan in 2009 to enquire into the various incidents of 2002 and to investigate on Modi and 62 other people. In his affidavit of 2011 Bhatt alleged that the SIT is trying to hide the truth behind the riots.   

The then Additional Advocate General of Gujarat Tushar Mehta was pally with Bhatt whose account Bhatt used to book a US trip for their families in 2010. At that time Bhatt says he found emails from SIT in Tushar Mehta’s mailbox. Now Bank accounts and mail accounts are totally different which means Bhatt spied on Mehta’s mail. In Aug 2011 Tushar Mehta lodged a complaint against Bhatt stating that Bhatt has hacked into his email account. 

The court previously appointed Raju Ramachandran ( Senior Advocate of the Supreme Court and Additional Solicitor General) as Amicus Curie (Friend of the Court). The SIT submitted its report in Nov 2010 which was referred to Ramachandran who asked them to conduct a self-review.  The self-review was submitted by the SIT in April 2011 and this was again referred to Ramachandran. 

In June 2011 Bhatt filed a PIL asking that the investigation be taken up by an independent agency or be transferred out of Gujarat. In October 2015 the SC bench trying the case ruled that the allegations against SIT are totally false and baseless. It further rebuked Bhatt that he had exchanged emails with rival political party leaders and was being tutored by the lawyer of an NGO and its activist.   

In Aug 2011 the Gujarat government has suspended Bhatt for unauthorised absence from duty, not appearing before an enquiry committee and using his official car while not on duty.  

The Gujarat Government had first appealed to the court to drop charges on Bhatt, but after he filed an affidavit against Modi in April 2011 in the court, the government withdrew its application Bhatt was then arrested by the Gujarat government on the charge of forcibly abducting his driver KD Panth and forcibly obtaining a statement from him. Bhatt was granted a bail in the case in Oct 2011.   

On Nov 2012 Bhatt and 6 other policemen were charged with murder in the custodial death of 1990 and were given a life sentence.

 In March 2024 Bhatt was convicted in a drug peddling case by the Palanpur court. In 1996 he falsely implicated an advocate by placing drugs weighing 1 Kg. 

On 29th April 2025 the Supreme Court dismissed his plea for bail and suspension of life sentence. 

The SC bench in 2015 used email evidence to rule that Bhatt had deliberately colluded with the leaders of the opposition Congress party, NGO activists and certain elements in the media to furnish false evidence on his attending the 27th fem 2002 meeting of Modi where he alleged that Modi himself incited the riots. The emails indicated that he was in active touch with the opposition and NGO’s. The court also condemned Bhatt’s conduct as underhanded and unbefitting of a senior police officer. 

His wife Swetha Bhatt contested the election on a Congress ticket against Modi in the Maninagar assembly constituency of Ahmedabad and lost miserably. She polled only 34,097 votes against Modi’s 1, 20,470 and Modi increased his vote share by over 5% compared to the previous assembly election. That clearly proves what people think about Sanjay Bhatt.  

Bhatt maliciously filed 40 petitions in the High Courts of Rajasthan and also the Supreme Court to deliberately delay any action on him.      

As for the Sanjiv Bhatt case, SIT Lawyer Jamuar said to the Court that, 

The meeting was attended by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, bureaucrats, then Director General of Police K Chakravarti and Ahmedabad Police Commissioner P C Pandey," 

"Sanjiv Bhatt says that he attended the meeting conducted by Modi. But if he had attended, then he should have informed his senior officer G C Raigar about the developments of the meeting. Raigar has said that Bhatt never told him about any meeting that the latter attended,".

"Also, Bhatt sent a wireless message to IPS officer Rahul Sharma asking him to confirm whether slain minister Haren Pandya was present at the high-level meeting convened by the Chief Minister. If Bhatt was present in the meeting, surely he would not ask Rahul Sharma to confirm that”. 

“When Sharma said Pandya was not present in the meeting on the night of February 27, Bhatt again asked Sharma to verify and confirm whether he was there or not”.

"Are all the officers - bureaucrats, DGP, Ahmedabad Police Commissioner telling lies? Is only Sanjeev Bhatt speaking truth? Everybody present in that meeting denied the presence of Bhatt and also denied any such statement made by Modi," Jamuar said.

All these arguments were made in 2013 when Modi was the CM of Gujarat and not the PM. 

As of April 2013, 249 convictions had been secured in the Gujarat violence of which 184  were Hindus and 65 were Muslims. 31 of the Muslim convictions were for the massacre of Hindus in Godhra. That means in the post-Godhra violence only 34 Muslims were arrested.   

GODHRA TRAIN BURNING AND ITS AFTERMATH.

 GODHRA INCIDENT.

On the morning of 27^th February 2002 the Sabarmati express train was travelling from Ayodhya to Ahmedabad carrying Karsevaks. It halted at the Godhra station 4 hours late at about 7.40 in the morning.  As the train started leaving the platform, it had to halt as the chain was pulled multiple times as per the statement of the driver which was shown by the instruments in his cabin. 4 bogies of the train were then attacked and burnt by a mob killing 59 people including 27 women and 10 children.

The Nanavati commission appointed immediately by the Gujarat Government on 6^th March 2002 itself, and it  gave Part-1 of its report in the year 2008, which stated that the train was set on fire by a pre-planned Muslim mob of 1000 people. The commission examined through 40,000 documents and took the testimonies of over 1000 witnesses to arrive at that conclusion.  

As per the Nanavati Commission, the train was attacked by a mob of 1000 people. After stone pelting 4 coaches of the train were set on fire in which the S-6 coach was completely burnt.

A study by the Gujarat Forensic laboratory concluded that the fire was caused by inflammable liquid poured into the coach by the attackers. It also said the fire started inside the coach.

In contrast a 1 man Banerjee commission set up by Laloo (who had then become Railway Minister) 2 and half year after the incident in 2004, , said the fire was an accident in its 2006 report itself. This report was set aside by the Gujarat High Court as unconstitutional, null and void.

This latter report which went into the incident 2 and half years after it actually happened is more political than anything else and it is quite obvious that it is cooked up. Circumstantial evidence clearly points to a Muslim mob.

Again the big difference between the commissions is that the Nanavati commission immediately investigated the incident while Laloos commission enquired about it 2 And half years after it took place. That again gives the Nanavati Commission more credence than to Laloos commission. Moreover the Nanavati Commission took 6 years to submit Part-1 of its report after going through voluminous evidence and statements by numerous witnesses, while the Banerjee Commission gave the report in just 2 years.   

A so called Concerned Citizens Tribunal concluded that the fire was an accident. As per that, one is led to conclude that the chain was pulled accidentally, it was also pulled multiple times accidentally and then the coaches also caught fire accidentally. This sounds like nonsense and nothing else. Did the people pull the chain and burn themselves? That sounds ludicrous. .

By 28^th February 2002, 51 people had been arrested in connection with the incident. In Feb 2011, the trial court convicted 31 people and acquitted 63 others for lack of evidence. Thereafter, the Gujarat High Court sentenced all those 31 people to life imprisonment.  

POST GODHRA COMMUNAL VIOLENCE.

On 28^th February, exactly one day after the Godhra incident, began a 3 day period of communal violence in Gujarat in protest against the Godhra train tragedy. There were further incidents of communal violence in some parts of Gujarat which continued for 3 months.  As per the official figures a total of 1044 people died which included 790 Muslims and 254 Hindus.

The then CM Modi was initially accused by many as not doing enough to control the violence. The SIT appointed by the Supreme Court, however has cleared Modi in 2012 and it has also rejected claims that the state government has not done enough to curb the violence. In April 2014, the SC expressed satisfaction over the SIT’s investigations in 9 cases related to the violence and rejected a plea contesting the SIT report citing it as baseless. Now both these events happened before Modi became the PM in May 2014.

The Communal riots in 1969 under the Congress government left 660 people dead of which 430 were Muslims. In the 1985 communal riots under another Congress government some 275 People were killed most of them Muslim. In Ahmedabad alone about 100 Muslims were killed.

So communal violence in Gujarat is nothing new, but since Modi happened to be a Hindu rightist, he was blamed by the Muslim groups and the Congress without any basis. 

As of April 2013, 249 convictions had been secured in the Gujarat violence of which 184  were Hindus and 65 were Muslims. 31 of the Muslim convictions were for the massacre of Hindus in Godhra before the post Godhra violence. That means in the post-Godhra violence only 34 Muslims were arrested.   

BILKIS BANO CASE. 

The Bilkis Bano case initially was a huge blot on law in India. She was a 5 months pregnant woman who fled her village when violence was sweeping over her region. She was accompanied by her husband and her 3 year old daughter and other family members. They were attacked by a group of 20-30 men armed with sickles, swords and stones. They killed 7 members of her family as well as her young daughter. 11 members of that gang raped her, her mother and 3 other women. Luckily Bilkis Bano survived the attack which is the reason why the issue not only got the country’s attention but also international attention. Despite that Police dismissed her case against the assailants. 

Then she moved to the Human Rights Commission and petitioned the SC to reopen the case. The SC handed over the investigation to the CBI which appointed a team of experts from the Central forensic Science laboratory (CFSL) and AIIMS to exhume the mass graves for identity and cause of death.  

The trial was also transferred from Gujarat to Maharashtra in the year 2004. Charges were filed against 19 people and 6 police officials and also a government doctor in the case in a Mumbai court. In 2008, 11 men were sentenced to life imprisonment and a policeman was sentenced for falsifying evidence.   

The Bombay High Court upheld the life imprisonment of the 11 men in May 2017. The court also set aside the acquittal of the 7 more men accused in the case and also the police officers and doctor. 

In April 2019, the DC ordered the Gujarat government to grant her Rs 50 lacs as compensation, a house and a government job. 

In March 2022 Radheshyam Bhagwandas Shah sought a remission of the sentence which he said is as per Gujarat’s policy. In August 2022, the 11 men imprisoned for life in the rape of Bilkis Bano were released by the Gujarat government. This action of the Gujarat government is patently absurd and reprehensible considering the vile crime that was committed by them.

After release they were garlanded and offered sweets which was absurd. 

Then 6000 signatories including intellectuals, filmmakers, and activists and so on have appealed to the SC. Finally it was in the tenure of Justice Chandrachud in January 2024 the remission granted to them was pronounced null and void and they were asked to surrender themselves to the Police.         

 

బొబ్బిలి జమీందారి మరియు బొబ్బిలి యుద్ధం.

 

బొబ్బిలి జమీందారి ప్రస్తుతం ఆంధ్రప్రదేశ్‌లోని విజయనగరం జిల్లాలో ఉంది. బొబ్బిలి యుద్ధం జరిగినప్పుడు ఇది మద్రాస్ ప్రెసిడెన్సీలోని ఉమ్మడి విశాఖపట్నం జిల్లాలో భాగంగా ఉండేది.

ఇది బొబ్బిలి, రాజం, కవిటి మరియు సీతానగరం యొక్క పరగణాలను కలిగి ఉంది. జమీందారితో పాటు ఇతర ఎస్టేట్‌లు 480 చదరపు కిలోమీటర్ల వైశాల్యాన్ని కలిగి ఉన్నాయి మరియు 202 జెరాయతి గ్రామాలు, 70 అగ్రహారాలు మరియు 6 మోఖాసాలు ఉన్నాయి.

దీనికి 1901 సంవత్సరంలో దాదాపు రూ. 5,00,000 భూమి ఆదాయం ఉండేది మరియు పేస్ కష్ రూ. 95,315 మరియు భూమి శిస్తు రూ. 32,467 ఉండేది. ఎకరానికి తడి భూమి సగటు అద్దె రేటు సంవత్సరానికి రూ. 7.50 మరియు ఎండిన భూమి సంవత్సరానికి రూ. 2. 1901 జనాభా లెక్కల ప్రకారం బొబ్బిలి జమీందారీ జనాభా 1,58,506.

జమిందారీ లో బొబ్బిలి అనేది దాదాపు 15000 జనాభా కలిగిన ఒక చిన్న పట్టణం.

జంఝావతి, వేగావతి మరియు నాగావళి నదులకు అనుసంధానించబడిన నీటిపారుదల మరియు నీటిపారుదల మార్గాల కోసం ఈ ఎస్టేట్‌లో 1725 ట్యాంకులు ఉన్నాయి.

బొబ్బిలి స్థాపకుడు వెంకటగిరి రాజ కుటుంబంలో 15వ వారసుడు. 1652 సంవత్సరంలో, చికాకోల్ (శ్రీకాకుళం) నవాబు షేర్ మహమ్మద్ ఖాన్, మొఘల్ చక్రవర్తి తరపున విశాఖపట్నంపై దండయాత్ర చేశాడు. అప్పుడు ఆయనతో పాటు వెంకటగిరి కుటుంబానికి చెందిన 15వ వారసుడు పెద రాయుడు అని పిలువబడే నిర్వాణ రాయప్ప, అలాగే విజయనగరం కుటుంబానికి చెందిన పూర్వీకుడు మాధవ వర్మ కూడా ఉన్నారు.

చికాకోల్ నవాబుకు పెద రాయుడు చేసిన గొప్ప సేవకు గుర్తింపుగా, మొఘల్ చక్రవర్తి రాజాం ఎస్టేట్‌ను ఆయనకు మంజూరు చేశాడు. చక్రవర్తి పెదరాయుడికి రాజా బహదూర్ అనే బిరుదును కూడా ఇచ్చాడు. పెదరాయుడు ఆ ఎస్టేట్‌లో ఒక కోటను నిర్మించి, ఆ ప్రాంతాన్ని తన నాయకుడైన షేర్ ఖాన్ పేరుతో బెబ్బులి అని పిలిచాడు, ఆ పేరు తరువాత "బొబ్బిలి"గా మార్చబడింది.

పెదరాయుడు తర్వాత అతని కుమారుడు లింగప్ప సింహాసనం అధిష్టించాడు. ఒకరోజు నవాబ్ షేర్ ఖాన్ కుమారుడు మహమ్మద్ ఖాన్ వేటకు వెళ్లినప్పుడు, కొంతమంది తిరుగుబాటుదారులు గంజాం జిల్లాలోని పలాస సమీపంలోని రంగవాక లో అతన్ని కిడ్నాప్ చేశారు. పెదరాయుడు తిరుగుబాటుదారులపై దాడి చేసి నవాబు కుమారుడిని వారి చెర నుండి విడిపించాడు. ఈ చర్యకు ఆకర్షితుడైన మొఘల్ చక్రవర్తి అతనికి రంగారావు అనే బిరుదును ఇచ్చాడు.

విజయనగరం మరియు బొబ్బిలి రాజులు ఎల్లప్పుడూ వైరం కలిగి ఉన్నారు. దీనికి ఖచ్చితమైన కారణాన్ని మనం  చెప్పలేము. విజయనగరం ఎస్టేట్ భూములు బొబ్బిలి భూముల కంటే చాలా విస్తారంగా ఉన్నాయి మరియు బొబ్బిలిలోని 158,000 మంది జనాభాతో పోలిస్తే దాని జనాభా 20,00,000. అంతే కాదు, విజయనగరం రాజు తీరప్రాంత ఆంధ్రప్రదేశ్‌లోని జమీందార్లు లేదా రాజాలలో అతిపెద్దవాడు.

బొబ్బిలి భూములు విజయనగరం భూములకు ఆనుకుని ఉన్నాయి. బొబ్బిలి ప్రజలు కాలువల నుండి నీటిని మళ్లించి వారు ఉపయోగించుకొనేవారు . దానికి విజయరామరాజు ప్రతీకారం తీర్చుకోలేకపోయాడు. ప్రసిద్ధ బ్రిటిష్  చరిత్రకారుడు రాబర్ట్ ఓర్మే 1807లో దీనిని రాశాడు, కానీ ఆశ్చర్యకరమైన విషయం ఏమిటంటే విజయరామరాజు తన అత్యున్నత ఖజానాతో మరియు దళాలతో బొబ్బిలి వారిని ఎందుకు తిప్పికొట్టలేకపోయాడు?

విజయరామరాజు సాగి నారాయణరాజు ఆధ్వర్యంలో నారాయణపట్నంను స్వాధీనం చేసుకోవడానికి సైన్యాన్ని పంపాడు, కానీ ఈ సైన్యం బొబ్బిలి భూభాగం గుండా వెళ్ళవలసి వచ్చింది. ఆలా వారు  వెళ్తుండగా బొబ్బిలి దళాలు విజయనగరం దళాలను వేధించి దానిని అనుమతించలేదు. తరువాత విజయరామరాజు పార్వతీపురం సమీపంలో బెలగం కోటను నిర్మించి నారాయణపట్నంను ఆక్రమించాడు. ఆ తరువాత అతను బొబ్బిలిపై దాడి చేసాడు కానీ ఓడిపోయాడు. పూసపాటి రామచంద్రరాజు ఆధ్వర్యంలో బొబ్బిలిని స్వాధీనం చేసుకోవడానికి చేసిన మూడవ ప్రయత్నం కూడా విజయనగర దళాల ఓటమికి దారితీసింది. 

ఈ ప్రయత్నాలన్నిటి తర్వాత విజయరామరాజు ఎందుకు విఫలమయ్యాడనేది అతని ఉన్నతమైన ఆర్థిక మరియు సైనిక వనరులను పరిగణనలోకి తీసుకుంటే చాలా ఆశ్చర్యకరంగా ఉంది.

కాబట్టి విజయరామరాజు బొబ్బిలిపై దాడి చేసి దానిని స్వాధీనం చేసుకోవడానికి సరైన సమయం కోసం ఎదురు చూస్తున్నాడు. దైవానుగ్రహం ప్రకారం, అతనికి ఫ్రెంచ్ జనరల్ బుస్సీ అవకాశం ఇచ్చాడు. ఫ్రెంచ్ వారు నిజాం మూడవ కుమారుడు సలాబత్‌జంగ్‌ను హైదరాబాద్ నిజాంగా నియమించారు మరియు కృతజ్ఞతగా సలాబత్‌జంగ్ తీరప్రాంత ఆంధ్రలోని ఉత్తర సర్కార్‌లను ఫ్రెంచ్ వారికి అప్పగించి పెష్‌కుష్‌ను స్వీకరించే అధికారం ఇచ్చారు.

1756లో తీరాంధ్ర  జమీందార్ల క్రమరహిత ప్రవర్తన మరియు పేస్ కష్ చెల్లించకపోవడం వలన ఫ్రెంచ్ జనరల్ మార్క్విస్ డి బుస్సీతో పాటు దాదాపు 1000 మంది సైనికులను కదలి వచ్చారు, వారిలో 250 మంది మాత్రమే యూరోపియన్లు. మిగిలిన 750  మంది భారత సిపోయ్ లు. వారి వద్ద 4 ఫిరంగులు ఉన్నాయి.  బుస్సీ రాజమండ్రిలో మకాం వేశాడు.  విజయరామరాజుతో సహా జమీందార్లందరూ వెళ్లి అతనికి గౌరవం ఇచ్చారు. బొబ్బిలి రాజు మాత్రమే అలా చేయకపోవడం బుస్సీకి కోపం తెప్పించింది.

విజయనగరం రాజు ఆ అవకాశాన్ని ఉపయోగించుకుని, బుస్సీతో పాటు నిజాం ప్రతినిధి హైదర్ జంగ్‌కు పెద్ద మొత్తంలో డబ్బును లంచం ఇచ్చి, బొబ్బిలి రాజుకు వ్యతిరేకంగా తిప్పి, బొబ్బిలి రాజు బుస్సీకు వ్యతిరేకమని  చెప్పించి బుస్సీని ఒప్పించాడు. చివరకు హైదర్ జంగ్‌ బొబ్బిలి రాజుకు  బుస్సీపట్ల గౌరవం లేదని, అతను ఇష్టపూర్వకంగా పేస్ కష్ చెల్లించడం లేదని, బొబ్బిలి ని విజయరామ రాజుకు అప్పగిస్తే అతను క్రమం తప్పకుండా పేస్ కష్ ఫ్రెంచ్ వారికి చెల్లిస్తాడని బుస్సీని ఒప్పించాడు.

బొబ్బిలి ముందస్తు అనుమతితో ఫ్రెంచ్ సిపాయిల బృందం బొబ్బిలి భూభాగాన్ని దాటవలసి వచ్చినప్పుడు, విజయనగరం దళాలు వారిపై రహస్యంగా దాడి చేశాయి మరియు వారిలో 30 మందిని చంపి, బొబ్బిలి ప్రజలపై నింద మోపారు.

శ్రీకాకుళం ఫ్రెంచ్ ఫౌజ్దార్ ఇబ్రహీం ఖాన్ ఫ్రెంచ్ వారిపై తిరుగుబాటు చేసి బొబ్బిలికి పారిపోయి ఆశ్రయం పొందాడు. ఈ సంఘటనలు బుస్సీని ఆగ్రహానికి గురి చేశాయి మరియు విజయరామరాజు హైదర్ జంగ్ చురుకైన సహాయంతో బుస్సీని సమర్థవంతంగా బొబ్బిలిపై దాడి చేయడానికి ప్రేరేపించాడు మరియు ఆ పనిని నిర్వహించడానికి తన 11000 మంది సైనికులను బుస్సీ వద్ద ఉంచాడు.

ఆ సమయంలో బొబ్బిలి 6వ రాజు రావు గోపాలకృష్ణ రంగారావు అనే పేరుతో సింహాసనంపై ఉన్నాడు. 

బొబ్బిలిని క్రమశిక్షణలో ఉంచడానికి అతనికి సహాయం చేయడానికి వారి వద్ద ఇప్పటికే 250 మంది యూరోపియన్లు మరియు 750 మంది సిపాయిలతో సహా 1000 మంది సైనికులు ఉన్నప్పుడు విజయనగరం రాజు 11,000 మంది సైనికులతో ఫ్రెంచ్ వారితో చేరాడు. ఆ విధంగా తన దళాలతో సహా ఫ్రెంచ్ వారికి 12,000 మంది సైనికులు మరియు 4 ఫిరంగులు ఉన్నాయి. ప్రతిగా బొబ్బిలి రాజు తన మట్టి కోటను రక్షించుకోవడానికి కేవలం 400 మంది సైనికులు మాత్రమే కలిగి ఉన్నారు.

బుస్సీ బొబ్బిలి రాజుకు వేరే చోట అంతే విలువైన భూమిని ఇస్తానని వాగ్దానం చేసి, తన బొబ్బిలి ఎస్టేట్‌ను ఖాళీ చేయమని అడిగాడు, కానీ రాజు దానిని అవమానంగా భావించి ఆ ప్రతిపాదనను పూర్తిగా తిరస్కరించాడు.

బొబ్బిలి రాజు ఫ్రెంచ్ వారి నుండి దాడిని ఊహించాడు. అతని బావమరిది తాండ్ర పాపారాయుడు గొప్ప పరాక్రమ యోధుడు, వారిని అరికట్టడానికి, వేధించడానికి మరియు నిరుత్సాహపరచడానికి సైనికుల బృందంతో 40 కి.మీ దూరంలో ఉన్న రాజాం కోట వద్ద మకాం వేశాడు. అయితే ఫ్రెంచ్ సైనికులు రాజాం పై దాడి చేయలేదు.  విజయరామరాజు సహాయంతో తాండ్ర పాపారాయుడికి తెలియకుండా ఆ కోటను దాటవేశారు.

బొబ్బిలి కోట పై ఫ్రెంచ్ దాడి మొత్తం భారతదేశంలో జరిగిన యుద్ధాల లో అత్యంత ఏకపక్షమైన యుద్ధం. 1757 సంవత్సరంలో,ఒక వైపు 400  మంది సైనికులు  కేవలం ఒక మట్టి కోటలో ఉండగా, రెండవ వైపు 12 ,000  మంది సైనికులు 4  ఫిరంగులతో వారిని ముట్టడించారు.   బుస్సీ సైన్యాన్ని 4 విభాగాలుగా విభజించాడు, ప్రతి విభాగంలో దాదాపు 3000 మంది సైనికులతో, ప్రతి విభాగానికి ఒక ఫిరంగి ఉంది. దీనికి విరుద్ధంగా, ప్రతి వైపు 100 మంది బొబ్బిలి సైనికులు మాత్రమే మట్టి కోటను రక్షించడానికి ప్రయత్నించారు.

తెల్లవారుజామున దాడి ప్రారంభమైంది, మొదట్లో 4  ఫిరంగులు కోటలోని 4 మట్టితో నిర్మించబడిన బురుజులపై కాల్పులు జరిపాయి. కోట పెద్దగా ఏమీ లేదు, అది దాదాపు 200 గజాల చదరపు విస్తీర్ణంలో ఉంది. ఫిరంగి కాల్పులు జరిగిన వెంటనే ప్రాకారాలు కూలిపోయాయి మరియు కోట గోడలో చీలికలు వచ్చాయి.  ఇప్పుడు బొబ్బిలి రాజు ఆదేశం మేరకు కోటలో 400 మంది సైనికులు మాత్రమే ఉన్నారు. కోటలో  సైనికులు కాకుండా దాదాపు 500  మంది వారి కుటుంబ సభ్యులు ఉన్నారు.

సైన్యాల అఖండమైన బలం ఉన్నప్పటికీ, కోట ప్రాకారాలపై ఫిరంగుల దాడి ఉన్నప్పటికీ, బొబ్బిలి దళాలు జరిపిన తీవ్రమైన ప్రతిఘటన కారణంగా ఫ్రెంచ్ దళాలు 4 గంటల పాటు కోటలోకి ప్రవేశించలేకపోయాయి. బొబ్బిలి దళాలలో ప్రతి సైనికుడు శత్రువులతో ప్రాణాలు ఒడ్డి పోరాడాడు. అందుచేత ఫ్రెంచ్ వారు లోపలికి ప్రవేశించడం అసాధ్యం అయింది. తరువాత బుస్సీ వారిని రక్షించడానికి సైన్యాన్ని వెనక్కి తీసుకుని ఫిరంగులతో ఇంకొకసారి కోట గోడలను కొట్టి గోడ చీలికలు ఇంకా విస్తృతం చేయించాడు. బ్రీచ్‌లు విస్తరించినప్పటికీ దానివలన కూడా ఏమీ ప్రయోజనం లేకపోయింది. ఇంకో 5 గంటల పాటు జరిగిన హ్యాండ్-టు-హ్యాండ్ పోరాటం ఫ్రెంచ్ దళాలను కోటలోకి చేర్చలేకపోయింది.

ఫ్రెంచ్ దళాలు మళ్ళీ వెనక్కి తగ్గాయి మరియు కోటపై మరొక రౌండ్ ఫిరంగి దాడి జరిగింది. ఫిరంగి బ్యారేజీలలో ఒకదానిలో రాజా గోపాలకృష్ణరావు స్వయంగా మరణించాడు. చనిపోయే ముందు వారి ప్రతిఘటన నిరాశాజనకంగా ఉందని వారు విఫలం అవడం తధ్యమని ఆయన భావించాడు.  ఆయన ఒక సర్దార్ మరియు అతని సైనికులను నివాస గృహాలకు వెళ్లి అన్ని స్త్రీలు మరియు పిల్లలను చంపమని ఆదేశించాడు. రాజా గోపాలకృష్ణ రంగారావు ఫ్రెంచ్ వారు వారిపై ఏదైనా భయంకరమైన చర్యలు చేస్తారు, అందుచేత వారి కుటుంబాలు ఫ్రెంచ్ వారి చేతుల్లోకి వెళ్లకూడదని కోరుకున్నాడు. రాణి అగ్ని లో ఆత్మాహుతి చేసుకుంది. మిగిలిన స్త్రీలు మరియు పిల్లలందరూ ఆయన ఆజ్ఞాపించిన సర్దారు మరియయు బొబ్బిలి సైనికులతో చంపబడ్డాయి. కానీ రాజు కుమారుడు చిన రంగారావును ఒక వృద్ధుడి సంరక్షణలో ఉంచారు, ఇది సర్దార్‌కు రాజు ఇచ్చిన ఆదేశానికి పూర్తిగా విరుద్ధం.

సాధారణంగా ఒక కమాండర్ మరణించినప్పుడు, సైన్యం తిరోగమనంలో మైదానం నుండి పారిపోయింది. అయితే, రాజు మరణం సైనికులను మరింత క్రోధం తెప్పించింది. వారి స్వంత బంధువుల కోటలో ఎలాగూ అప్పటికి మృతి చెందారు. దానితో వారు మరణం గురించి ఆలోచించకుండా చుట్టుముట్టబడిన  క్రూరమృగాల వలె పోరాడారు.

కోటను రక్షిస్తున్న సైనికులు అప్పటికి ఫ్రెంచ్ వారి ఫిరంగుల ముందు తమ పరిస్థితి ఆశాజనకంగా లేదని గ్రహించారు. కోట పతనం అనివార్యమని మరియు వారి కుటుంబాలు అలా చంపబడినందున, దళాలు ఇప్పుడు తమను తాము పూర్తిగా ప్రాణ త్యాగం చేయడానికి సిద్ధపడి యుద్ధం చేసాయి. వారికి వ్యతిరేకంగా అపారమైన బలం  ఉన్నప్పటికీ వారు ఫ్రెంచ్ దళాలకు ఎటువంటి అవకాశం ఇవ్వలేదు.

చివరకు చాలా కఠినమైన పోరాటం తర్వాత, సూర్యాస్తమయం నాటికి మాత్రమే ఫ్రెంచ్ దళాలు కోటలోకి ప్రవేశించగలిగాయి, అది కూడా అప్పటికి బొబ్బిలి సైనికుడు ఎవరూ నిలబడి ఉండలేదు, ప్రతి రక్షకుడు చంపబడ్డాడు లేదా తీవ్రంగా గాయపడ్డాడు కాబట్టి. కోటలో ఏమి జరిగిందో తెలిసిన బుస్సీ కోటలోకి ప్రవేశించడానికి నిరాకరించాడు. రాజా తమ్ముడు వెంగళరావు తీవ్రంగా గాయపడి పడి ఉన్నాడు కానీ ప్రాణాలతో బయటపడ్డాడు. అంటే బొబ్బిలిలోని 400 మంది సైనికులు మరణించారు మరియు వారి కుటుంబ సభ్యులు 500 మంది మరణించారు, యుద్ధంలో మరణాల సంఖ్య 900 కు చేరుకుంది.

అప్పుడు చిన రంగారావు ను తన రక్షణలోకి తీసుకున్న వృద్ధుడు బుస్సీ వద్దకు వచ్చి ఆయనను బుస్సీ కి అప్పగించాడు. చివరకు తాను చేసిన పనికి పశ్చాత్తాపపడి బుస్సీ బొబ్బిలి జమీందారీ భూములను వెంగళరావు సంరక్షణలో ఉన్న చిన రంగారావుకు తిరిగి ఇచ్చాడు.

యుద్ధం ముగిసిన తర్వాతే తాండ్ర పాపారాయుడు యుద్ధం గురించి తెలుసుకున్నాడు. వెంటనే అతను రాజాం నుండి బొబ్బిలికి తిరిగి వెళ్ళాడు. అక్కడ జరిగిన సంఘటనలు  బొబ్బిలి లో ఆయన చూసిన పరిస్థితి ఆయనను దిగ్భ్రాంతి కి గురిచేసింది. ఆయన క్రోధంతో  విజయరామరాజును చంపేస్తానని ప్రతిజ్ఞ చేశాడు. ఈ సంఘటన జరిగిన 3 రోజుల తర్వాత విజయనగరం దళాలు తమ గుడారాలలో నిద్రిస్తున్నప్పుడు, తాండ్ర పాపారాయుడు మరియు అతని సహచరులలో ఒకరు రహస్యంగా నిద్రపోతున్న విజయరామరాజు గుడారంలోకి ప్రవేశించారు. తాండ్ర పాపారాయుడు, విజయరామరాజు తో "బొబ్బిలి పులి వచ్చింది" అని అరిచాడు. విజయరామరాజు లేవడానికి ప్రయత్నించినప్పుడు చొరబాటుదారులు ఇద్దరూ అతనిని 32 సార్లు పొడిచి చంపారు. అప్పుడు  తాండ్ర పాపారాయుడు తన విధిని తాను నిర్వర్తించానని పేర్కొన్నాడు. ఆ తర్వాత గుడారంలోకి ప్రవేశించిన దళాలు ఆయనను, ఆయనతో వచ్చిన సహచరుడిని కాల్చి చంపాయి.

ఆంధ్రప్రదేశ్‌లో ఈ కథ చాలా ప్రజాదరణ పొందింది. దీని ఆధారంగా రెండు సినిమాలు కూడా నిర్మించబడ్డాయి. ఇది బొబ్బిలి రాజు అజేయమైన సైన్యాన్ని ఎదుర్కొన్నప్పటికీ ఆయన తీరని శౌర్యాన్ని, స్వాతంత్ర్య సూత్రాలపై రాజీలేని వైఖరిని సూచిస్తుంది. ఆయన తన ప్రాణాలను ఎప్పుడూ పట్టించుకోలేదు, మరియు చివరికి తాను నమ్మిన సూత్రాల కోసం మరణించాడు. దురదృష్టవశాత్తు ఈ ప్రక్రియలో ఆయన కోటలో ఆశ్రయం పొందుతున్న అన్ని కుటుంబాలను ఫ్రెంచ్ వారు వారిపైన   దారుణానికి పాల్పడతారని నమ్మి చంపించాడు.  అది పూర్తిగా తప్పుడు నమ్మకం, ఒక ఘోర తప్పిదం కూడా. ఎందుకంటే అంతవరకూ ఫ్రెంచ్ వారు మహిళలు మరియు పిల్లలపై దారుణాలకు పాల్పడిన రికార్డులు ఎక్కడా లేవు.