He is a ‘dead’ man ‘alive’. Literally. It’s a sizzling script any Bollywood maverick would grab with both hands to make a blockbuster mystery movie. However, this is no reel tale, but a true, sad story of a man whose impersonation has come to haunt his brother like a ghost.
Such is the conundrum G S Shivanna, younger brother of G S Raghu, a former Armyman, is caught in today.
He has been wading through the corridors of bureaucy to prove to all the ‘doubting Thomases” that he is very much “alive” and “kicking” as he truly claims to be, and he is no Dead Man Walking trying to hoodwink them to avail of the benefits rightfully due to him.
Sordid history
Raghu’s sad saga dates back to 1981. Blessed with a good physique, he took the easy and devious route to secure the job of a driver in the military.
This second son of the late Sheenappa of Gopalapura village in Nellikere gram panchayat limits of Nonavinakere hobli, did what every desperate lad would have done.
A seventh standard pass, with neither age nor academics attractive enough to fetch him a coveted job, saw him produce the school certificates of his younger and brighter brother G S Shivanna to land the driver’s job.
What’s more, 18 summers pass by as Raghu settles well in his role as also sees him marry Mangalamma and be blessed with two children Usha and Mithuna.
Out of the army, he dons the role of a security guard with the State Bank of Mysore in Tiptur. Little did Raghu realise that a row over land between the brothers would expose the secret life he has lived all through his productive years.
Betrayal of trust
Shivanna, on learning of his elder brother’s deceitful deed, saw that the best way to get at Raghu was to expose him, which he eventually did by lodging a police complaint.
And as if life imitating art, the brothers patch up with a local leader playing the peacemaker. But the story does not end on this happy, one big smiling family freeze frame.
For, following the death of Raghu in July 6, 2011, did Shivanna’s actual ordeal begin with Raghu’s wife Mangalamma producing a death certificate in Shivanna’s name to seek benefits due to Raghu, both from the military and the bank, besides producing another death certificate in her hubby’s true name to seek her share in the family property.
While the marriage certificate states Shivanna as the husband of Mangalamma, the wedding card, however, reads ‘Raghu marries Mangalamma’.
Complicating matters further, the school certificates of the children Usha and Mithuna state Shivanna as their father, even as the ration card, voter ID, pahani and other documents carry Raghu’s name.
The doppelganger drama has drawn into its vortex several authorities — the police, the taluk office, and even the Lokayukta. How it will be resolved is the mind-boggling question.