Free Who bombed the Hilton? by Rachel Landers

CHOGRM and are under attack by elements of the press who hold them up to ridicule, or worse, accuse them of blackmail, conspiracy and murder. Then there was the bomb found at the Indian High Commission in Canberra. And what do they have on their prime suspects? Nothing. Nothing but the bland denialsissued by the sect with smooth regularity. Circumstantially it all seems to point to an inner cell within the Ananda Marga, hidden deep within an oblivious rank and file membership. The fact is there is nothing concrete to hang onto despite the hours they have spent watching and listening.
    What about the bright young boys and girls over at ASIO? What about the two informants they have had inside the sect since late the year before? Where is their intelligence? Apart from tiny tidbits, they seem to be completely incapable of producing solid leads. I suppose it might occur to Special Branch during that early evening in late March, as Richard Seary faces them across the desk, that Norm and his handsomely resourced Hilton task force don’t seem to be faring much better than the cloak and dagger ASIO contingent either. Why wait for them to fuck up? Why not strike out on your own?
    Presumably the members of Special Branch believed they could change the course of the investigation and perhaps become the heroes of the day.
    It’s easy to imagine either Krawczyk, Helson or Watson being intensely frustrated by the lack of traction within the investigation. If I shared their suspicions about the sect I might feel as if I were being mocked. ‘Looky, another bomb. First the Hilton, now Canberra. What are you going to do?’ It’s fascinating to note how intimate these detectives are with the freshterror of this newly discovered bomb, with its potential to rip through walls and flesh, and how mouthwateringly tempting the circumstantial evidence surrounding it is. It is Krawczyk’s name on both the original reports relaying details about the components of the High Commission bomb, and on the report:
    â€¦ concerning a description of a male and female suspects [sic] relative to the bomb incident at the Indian High Commission … located on the 25th, March, 1978. Also is [sic] a photo-fit picture of the possible male suspect. 1
    He must have felt tantalisingly close. Yes, the description is general, yet the gender mix, the age, the brazenness of the actions — casually throwing a bag full of explosives over the back wall of an official compound — do bear a startling similarity to those Margii couples caught in other countries over the last few months.
    If it were me, I can imagine feeling that things could be done better — that I could do things better. Remember, the Margiis say they have been infiltrated by ASIO, so it’s possible that those operatives are horribly compromised and will never get anywhere. (In almost 20 years’ time ASIO will commission and publish a declassified report to address some of these questions. In it they will admit that ‘ASIO ran agents within the Ananda Marga. Most agentsapparently provided only limited coverage of the sect.’ 2 )
    Why not recruit your own agent? It’s a good time to start afresh. Why not Seary? He looks like a hippie, smells like a hippie, but behaves like a nark. He was happy enough to point the finger at the Hare Krishnas, who obviously accept him. Why not get him to take his suspicious mind into the Margiis? The more you think about it, it’s the randomness and speed of Special Branch’s choice that makes Seary kind of perfect. Anyone asking about him knows he’s been loosely allied with the Hare Krishnas for years, drifted around, done this or that, done time, had and got over a drug problem, had a tricky childhood. He’s bright, the right age — just the sort of person the Margiis might like. What’s more, he’s clearly up for it. Whether motivated by adventure, a bit of cash or just because going