Overland Park PD: Srinivasu Dasari investigation records

Mr. Delaware,
I hereby acknowledge your Kansas Open Records Act request which we received
by the Overland Park Police Records Unit on December 20, 2021.

Under the Kansas Open Records Act (KORA), found in K.S.A. 45-215 et. seq.,
the City of Overland Park (“City”) is only required to provide records
which are deemed open records to the public.

Pursuant to K.S.A. 45-218(f) and K.S.A. 45-219(c), as a condition to
turning over the records, the City may require fees to compensate it for
the staff time needed to respond to your request as well as copying fees,
as allowed under KORA.

We have reviewed your request for record information. We will research the
files requested and respond to you as quickly as possible. It is expected
the research time may be longer than normal due to the age of the records
being requested. We will contact you with any fees that may be incurred
prior to completing your request.

If you have further questions, please contact me or Eric Blevins, Assistant
City Attorney, 913-327-6941 or eric.blevins@opkansas.org.

Russell Stamer

Records Unit Supervisor
--

*R.W. Stamer # 621 *
Police Department - Records Unit Supervisor
Public Safety

City of Overland Park
12400 Foster
Overland Park, KS 66213

(w) 913 327-6849
russ.stamer@opkansas.org | www.opkansas.org

[image: City of Overland Park] <https://www.opkansas.org/>
[image: Forward OP] <http://forwardop.org/>

An interim response, stating the request is being processed.

Robert Delaware,

In regards to your Open Records Request from Wednesday December, 15th 2021,
whereby you request:

*All investigation records held by the Overland Park Police Department
related to the August 1984 disappearance of Srinivasu Dasari. Numerous
articles have appeared online, and Dasari's disappearance was describe in a
book, as having possibly been related to threats from a Sikh terror group
called Jamaat al-Fuqra.*

AND

*This requests asks for any "case file" or "cold case file" held by the
Overland Park PD, as well as any documents related to:*

*-Speculation about the involvement of Jamaat al-Fuqra-Guidance from the
FBI regarding Sikh nationalism and anti-Hindu violence-Speculation about
involvement of a group that describe itself as the "Republic of
Khalistan"-Witness statements or interviews (longhand, transcribed,
audio-taped, or video-taped) related to the Dasari case-Media requests from
1984 to 2006 about the Dasari case-Correspondence with the Pierce County
Washington Sheriff's Department about similarities to other violence
targeting Hindus.*

Attached you will find the Open Records portion of that investigation
report, the remainder of the report is closed pursuant to KSA 45-221
(a)(10) as a criminal investigation.

The Senate Bill you cited in your request was never passed by the KS
Legislature and never became law.
https://legiscan.com/KS/sponsors/SB200/2017

As you can see SB 200(2017) died in Committee upon a Senate motion to
Strike it from the Calendar.

You can also read how that portion currently reads here:
https://www.ksrevisor.org/statutes/chapters/ch45/045_002_0017.html

None of the language you relied on for your request is in the current law.

Thank you,

*Eric R. Blevins*
Assistant City Attorney, Sr; Public Safety
Law

City of Overland Park
8500 Santa Fe Drive
<https://maps.google.com/?q=8500+Santa+Fe+Drive+%0D+Overland+Park,+KS+66212&entry=gmail&source=g>
Overland Park, KS 66212

(w)* 913-327-6941* | (f) 913-895-5095 <(913)%20895-5095>
eric.blevins@opkansas.org | www.opkansas.org

[image: City of Overland Park] <https://www.opkansas.org/>
[image: Forward OP] <http://forwardop.org/>

*CONFIDENTIAL - ATTORNEY - CLIENT STATEMENT This message is from the City
Attorney’s Office and may contain information which is privileged and
confidential and is solely for the use of the intended recipient. If you
are not the intended recipient, be aware that any review, disclosure,
copying, distribution, or use of the contents of this message is strictly
prohibited. If you have received this in error, please destroy it
immediately and please notify me immediately by return electronic mail or
by telephone at 913-895-6083. If the heading of this message is
“Confidential Attorney-Client Privileged Information,” such
message shouldn’t be sent to distribution lists, be forwarded to anyone
else, or be retained on the network e-mail system. If a copy of a
privileged message needs to be retained, it should be printed and filed in
an appropriate file.*
---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: <requests@muckrock.com>
Date: Wed, Dec 15, 2021 at 11:48 AM
Subject: The Kansas Open Records Act Request: Overland Park PD: Srinivasu
Dasari investigation records
To: <oppdpio@opkansas.org>

Overland Park Police Department
ORA Office
12400 Foster Street
Overland Park, KS 66213

December 15, 2021

To Whom It May Concern:

Pursuant to the The Kansas Open Records Act, I hereby request the following
records:

All investigation records held by the Overland Park Police Department
related to the August 1984 disappearance of Srinivasu Dasari. Numerous
articles have appeared online, and Dasari's disappearance was describe in a
book, as having possibly been related to threats from a Sikh terror group
called Jamaat al-Fuqra.

Mr. Dasari's disappearance is profiled on the KBI's website:
https://www.kbi.ks.gov/MissingPersons/Search/Details/M121679635

According to Kansas State Bill 200, passed in the 2017 session:

The Kansas Open Records Act now holds that criminal investigative records
does not include, "missing person investigations where the person has been
missing for more than 25 years and such records were collected 15 or more
years ago."

This means that records created in relation to the 1984 disappearance are
now applicable to a public records request, up to those records created 15
years or more years ago. This would be records created and held by the
Overland Park Police Department from August of 1984 to August of 2006.

The text of this legislation which indicates that there records are
applicable to public records request can be found here:
http://www.kslegislature.org/li_2018/b2017_18/measures/documents/sb200_00_0000.pdf

A news article about this legislation can e found here:
https://www2.ljworld.com/news/2017/mar/08/bill-advances-senate-open-records-cold-case-files/

This requests asks for any "case file" or "cold case file" held by the
Overland Park PD, as well as any documents related to:

-Speculation about the involvement of Jamaat al-Fuqra
-Guidance from the FBI regarding Sikh nationalism and anti-Hindu violence
-Speculation about involvement of a group that describe itself as the
"Republic of Khalistan"
-Witness statements or interviews (longhand, transcribed, audio-taped, or
video-taped) related to the Dasari case
-Media requests from 1984 to 2006 about the Dasari case
-Correspondence with the Pierce County Washington Sheriff's Department
about similarities to other violence targeting Hindus

Thank you for your assistance with this request, and I look forward to
working as long as it may need to take to see this request resolved. Thank
you for the Overland Park PD's commitment to transparency.

The requested documents will be made available to the general public, and
this request is not being made for commercial purposes.

In the event that there are fees, I would be grateful if you would inform
me of the total charges in advance of fulfilling my request. I would prefer
the request filled electronically, by e-mail attachment if available or
CD-ROM if not.

Thank you in advance for your anticipated cooperation in this matter. I
look forward to receiving your response to this request within 3 business
days, as the statute requires.

Sincerely,

Robert Delaware

View request history, upload responsive documents, and report problems here:
https://www.muckrock.com/

If prompted for a passcode, please enter:
••••••••

Filed via MuckRock.com
E-mail (Preferred): requests@muckrock.com

For mailed responses, please address (see note):
MuckRock News
DEPT MR 122212
411A Highland Ave
Somerville, MA 02144-2516

PLEASE NOTE: This request is not filed by a MuckRock staff member, but is
being sent through MuckRock by the above in order to better track, share,
and manage public records requests. Also note that improperly addressed
(i.e., with the requester's name rather than "MuckRock News" and the
department number) requests might be returned as undeliverable.