BENGALURU: Soon after retiring as DG Home Guards, Fire Force and Civil Defence in 2011, DV Guruprasad was at MS Ramaiah Medical College attending a programme on counselling of terminally-ill patients when one of the doctors mentioned that those in advanced stages of cancer exhibit three types of reactions – denial, hope of a miracle or surrender to their fate. As a police officer with a career spanning over three decades, he recalled all those criminals who were given death penalty. Wouldn’t the mental make up of both parties be similar – considering that both were staring at the face of death?
In his latest book, In the Shadow of Death (published by Jaico Books, priced at Rs 399), Guruprasad brings alive eight gory stories. A serial killer who targeted young women, a savage gang that terrorised a metropolis, a runaway woman who took to murder as an easy way to survive, a constable with a deadly fetish. While these stories may appear to be straight out of a television soap, these bear full resemblance to real-life events, enough to send a chill down the spine.
With first-hand experience of handling several sensitive cases in his decades’-long career, Guruprasad looks at the cases from multiple perspectives. “The idea of the book was to delve into the psyche of death-row prisoners. ‘How does one behave when he’s in the throes of the gallows?’, ‘Do they regret their past deeds?’,” says Guruprasad, adding, “But most of them, barring one, had no sense of remorse. Most felt they were wrongly accused.”
A prolific writer – with 64 Kannada books and five English to his credit – Guruprasad began extensive research in 2013-14, visiting the prisons between 2016 and 2017, going to the crime spot to recreate the scenarios for readers, poring over case files, meeting the investigating officer, and then interviewing the prisoner. “I was allowed to meet them only once, so preparation had to be thorough,” says Guruprasad, who had 70 such cases although only eight made it to this book.
There were many interesting aspects that came up during the research and interaction process, including the fact that the Dandupalya gang wouldn’t sleep in prison, instead they would watch Animal Planet endlessly. But putting together a book with a gripping storyline, packed with facts and figures came with its own set of challenges. “It would have been much easier had a psychiatrist been allowed to accompany me as well. And since meetings were permitted only once, there was prep work that was required. It also took time for them to open up and share their tales,” says Guruprasad, who is hoping that this book helps mental health professionals as well as those studying criminal psychology, an area where material and reading resources are limited.
Even as this book has just hit stands, Guruprasad is already in the final stages of editing his next book on bandit Veerappan which is likely to release in the next couple of months.
Writer’s block
Guruprasad follows a meticulous schedule, writing for four hours on a daily basis, a practice he picked up early on. In fact, it was an interaction with famed writer RK Narayan in the early ’70s that inculcated this habit in him. “I remember asking him what I should do to become a writer like him. And his answer was, ‘You have to write every day.’,” he recalls. Taking the suggestion quite literally, Guruprasad began writing 500 words every single day on his typewriter back in the day. “I ensured to do it through service,” says Guruprasad, who, if not writing, catching up on reading or travelling, is watching crime series, including Criminal Minds or Mindhunter.