For son’s sake, ex-navyman will stay back ‘illegally’ in US

Former Indian Navy captain Buddhikota Subbarao is determined to see his son through the “path of justice”, even if it means staying back in the US “illegally”.

Subbarao has been waging a lone legal battle to prove his son Vikram’s innocence. Vikram was arrested in the US in 2006 for allegedly sending threat mails to president George Bush. He has been in prison since January this year.

“Under no circumstances does he want to leave our son alone. He is all Vikram has in the foreign land,” said Shyamala, Subbarao’s wife.

The US government had issued the 67-year-old an ultimatum asking him to either “willingly leave the US” else face arrest and deportation. He was expected to return to the city after his request for visa extension was rejected.

“Over the weekend, he sent me an e-mail saying that he didn’t care about the consequences and had made up his mind to stay back in the US,” said Shyamala.

“Vikram’s judgement day is scheduled for December 3. Subbarao wants to stay back in the US so that he can appeal the case in a higher court if necessary,” said Avisha Kulkarni, national convener, Deshbhakti Andolan, an NGO which has taken up the issue. While in prison, Vikram is studying American criminal law and is teaching Mathematics to other inmates, said his mother.