Did you know GPO junction is named after a constable who saved boy's life?

 Do you know that the busy traffic junction at the General Post Office (GPO), just a stone’s throwaway from Karnataka’s seat of power, is officially named Police Thimayya Circle?

If yes, ever wondered who is Police Thimayya? Few people are likely to know him. Thimayya or Meesey Thimayya was a constable attached to the Cubbon Park traffic police station.

A native of Tumakuru, he got the nickname for his double barrel moustache. He was posted at the junction to regulate its traffic. On August 26, 1995, he died in the line of duty while trying to save a boy from a speeding tempo. He was just 42 years old. He is survived by wife, two sons and a daughter.

Now, the police have put up an illuminated flex board in the middle of the traffic signpost at the junction, giving brief details of Thimayya. The idea is to educate people why such an important junction has been named after a constable, a traffic police officer said.

Motorists and pedestrians stop by to see the illuminated flex. Several of them smiled.
Among them was Venkataramana Shastri, a veteran lawyer who was walking by. He stood there, gazed at the flex box and spoke about the deceased constable. “Thimayya looked frightening but he was a kind and soft-spoken person. Back then, anyone could engage him in a conversation. He was so amiable that those who met him took an immediate liking for him.”

After his death, his colleagues paid him tribute, describing him as an earnest and disciplined policeman, Shastri added.

“It has been more than two decades since the tragic accident in which he lost his life at this spot. Whenever we pass by this junction, we remember him. Those days, there was not much traffic but rain or shine we always found him here,” he said.

A senior police officer said, “Except for a small stone bearing his name, there is nothing else to indicate that the junction is named Police Thimayya Circle. The stone too is hardly visible. So, we decided to put up a flex box with Thimayya’s trademark moustache and a brief description about him.”

The officer said similar flex boxes would be put up at other junctions, giving details of the people they were named after.

Catching attention

Anoop Gowda, a native of Tumakuru who works at a software engineer on Infantry Road, said he passed through the junction every day but didn’t know that its official name was Police Thimayya Circle. “Only after seeing the flex box did I get to know about it. When I went to the office, I searched on the Internet and found about Thimayya,” he said. “It’s certainly a nice initiative and hope the police do it in other places too.”