JOIN US'He was introvert and shy but a brilliant Dollu Kunitha artiste'
N Harish, the 2009-batch IPS officer of Tamil Nadu cadre who was found dead under mysterious circumstances in the Police Officers’ Mess in Chennai, was an introvert and a well-read man, according to his batchmates serving in Karnataka. Harish was from Bengaluru.
They recalled his ‘Dollu Kunitha’ performance during the IPS training days, saying it was “truly unforgettable”. Dollu Kunitha is a popular drum dance of Karnataka. When Deccan Herald spoke to Harish’s IPS batchmates, they expressed deep shock over his sudden death. Preliminary reports suggest he committed suicide.
M N Anucheth, Superintendent of Police (SP), Chitradurga, said, “It’s unfortunate and hard to believe that an IPS officer took such a drastic step. He was shy and introvert but a friendly man. He was brilliant in studies and a good debator during the training programmes at the National Police Academy (NPA) in Hyderabad.”
He said his best memory of Harish was a ‘Dollu Kunitha’ performance at the South Zone Cultural Day at the NPA. “He grabbed all the eyeballs,” Anucheth said. According to SP, he wasn’t in regular touch with Harish. “But we had a WhatsApp group of some officers and exchanged messages once in a while.”
Uttara Kannada SP, C Vamsi Krishna, remembers Harish for his “soft nature and sweet talk”. “I couldn’t interact much with him as we were in different training modules. Whenever we exchanged pleasantries, he turned out to be a kind person. I had no idea about him being upset about anything.”
Ramesh Banoth, SP, Bengaluru Rural, recalled the time he spent with Harish during the training session and said the deceased loved being to himself. “The last time I spoke to him was during the second phase of the training at the NPA. After that I couldn’t talk to him. It’s unfortunate to lose a disciplined officer.”
IAS officer Dr Venkatesh M V, who is Deputy Commissioner of Chikkaballapur, said he spent four months with Harish during the foundation course programme at the Lal Bahadur Shastri National Academy of Administration in Mussoorie.
“He was a determined and focused person, and constantly talked about his aspiration to serve the public, especially the poor and the needy. He was good at cultural activities, too. His Dollu Kunitha performance can never be forgotten.”
Iada Martin Marbaniang, SP, Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Bengaluru, said he was pained by Harish’s death.
“He was a very decent person, an intellectual and a gentleman. There were a total of 120 people in our batch during our training days and I remember Harish as a very dedicated person who took all the courses very seriously. After passing out, he was posted to Tamil Nadu. We used to keep in touch from time to time. As far as recall, he didn’t have any problems.”