He stood up for his slain friend

LUCKNOW: On a cold November morning 10 years ago, Akhil Krishna was working away on a project in the Netherlands when a mail popped up in his inbox. He couldn’t believe what he read and rubbed his eyes and looked again. The mail said Akhil’s best friend in IIM-Lucknow, Shanmugam Manjunath, was shot dead.
“It was dawn when I had logged in. I thought I was still asleep and it was a nightmare or my eyes were deceiving me.The mail said he was shot while he was returning from Lakhimpur Kheri after inspecting a petrol pump. I was devastated as he was not only my study partner but also my best friend,” Akhil told TOI from Bangalore, where he works with an MNC. Manjunath and Akhil were students of the 2003 batch at IIM-L.
In 2005, Manjunath was employed with IOC, when he blew the whistle on an oil adulteration racket in Gola area of Lakhimpur Kheri of Uttar Pradesh. On November 19, 2005, he was shot dead by Pawan Kumar alias Monu Mittal, the owner of a petrol pump where he had gone to collect samples of allegedly adulterated petrol.
In 2006, a Lakhimpur court awarded death sentence to main accused Pawan Kumar alias Monu and life term to seven others. Three years later, Allahabad high court converted Monu’s death sentence into life term, which was upheld by the Supreme Court.
While the news left Akhil shattered, it was only later that he felt restless and wanted to be back in India.
Two months after the incident, on January 23, 2006, Akhil travelled to India, took Manjunath’s parents to Lakhimpur Kheri and met the investigating officer of the case and sought support of the witnesses – two people who earlier said they heard the gun shots but later refused to testify out of fear.
“I still remember the date of the conviction, March 22, 2007, when the eight accused prayed desperately, even as the judge pronounced them guilty,’’ recalls Akhil.
While in the Netherlands, Akhil arranged talk shows, gathered people to talk for Manjunath, collected funds, appointed lawyers and helped in formation of the Manjunath Trust.
After he settled in Bangalore, Akhil kept visiting Lakhimpur to attend court hearings. “There was no chance of missing any of them. For me, it was an opportunity to stand up to the cartels of corruption and serve the memory of a martyr and take the perpetrators of crime to justice,’’ said Akhil, recalling his only photograph with Manjunath who stood smiling, arm-in-arm with him, in the graduation day snap.
On campus, Manjunath would pin up an inspiring ‘thought for the day” message on the dining mess notice board. “Hardly anybody cared to read the messages, but Manjunath performed this self-imposed duty unfailingly.
We were more concerned about placement notices. While fighting for justice for Manjunath, I often wondered how he rose from pinning inspirational messages to being an icon of inspiration himself by his fearlessness and selfless fight for the right that made him lose his life,” said Akhil.
“He was a simple boy and his answers were straight from the heart. In a brand management class, we were once asked: “What does brand loyalty mean to you? He answered: “It’s like a mother – whatever happens, she doesn’t let go. This is brand loyalty.”
“He was the “senti” young man amongst us. Even on the eve of finance accounting exam, all Manjunath wanted to discuss was values,” said Akhil.
And not just Akhil, Ankur Agarwal, another close friend of Manjunath, seethes in anger over his death, an incident that shook his life 10 years ago.
“He would walk into my room any time and initiate a conversation on just anything, apart from our studies, on what is good and what is bad, and why are we doing this or that in a philosophical note. I also remember him singing ‘Maaeri’ on the hostel terrace as soon as he woke up in the morning. Since our hostel were adjoined, and Manjunath had a melodious voice, no one could miss it,’’ said Ankur.
Ankur, now settled in Delhi with his wife and child, recalled the gritty fight he put up for his friend. But he still has one regret, that he was not present when Manjunth was fighting all alone with the mafia in Lakhimpur Kheri.
Manjunath’s trial coincided with Ankur co-founding a start-up where multiple things were to be done in multiple cities. “It was new venture and my partners were not convinced with me being away. But I did manage it in a way that I kept Lucknow meetings around the trial dates,’’ said Ankur.
Another big challenge which Ankur faced was the cynicism and hostility of people. “No one understood why I stood up for him, leaving my work aside,” said Ankur.