Bengaluru: The ‘Singham’ of Karnataka, IPS officer Kuppuswamy Annamalai, broke a lot of hearts when he resigned this week, but he is looking forward to indulging in some simple joys of life.
“All good things in life have to come to an end and I have decided that, now, my time in khakhi is done,” he told ThePrint.
“I just want to take some time out and enjoy the small things of life I have missed out on — be a good father to my son, who deserves every bit of my time as he is growing up fast, get into farming back home, and see whether my sheep still listen to me as I’m no more a cop now,” he added.
A mechanical engineering graduate with an MBA from IIM-Lucknow, Annamalai is an IPS officer of the 2011 batch. Posted as deputy commissioner of police (Bengaluru South), he tendered his resignation Monday.
While the officer himself has not stated anything to this effect, there’s speculation that Annamalai is headed for a stint in politics, with his IPS colleague Roopa Moudgil suggesting as much in her farewell tweet for him.
“Spoke to Annamalai IPS. @DCPSouthBCP. He is plunging into politics. It requires guts, boldness to leave cushy, secure, hard-earned IPS job. Its heartening to see such achievers n youngsters diving into politics. Wishing him all the best,” she tweeted.
Spoke to Annamalai, IPS .@DCPSouthBCP. He has tendered resignation today. He is plunging into politics. It requires guts, boldness to leave cushy, secure , hard earned IPS job. Its heartening to see such achievers n youngsters diving into politics. Wishing him all the best.
— D Roopa IPS (@D_Roopa_IPS) May 28, 2019
Speaking to ThePrint, Annamalai said he was quitting the IPS because he felt it was time for some “introspection”, adding that he hoped to serve his family and people with a little “more freedom” outside the police force.
While at IIM-Lucknow, Annamalai said, he saw “several instances of poverty and social disparity”, which moved him to choose a career in public service.
A similar epiphany, he added, had now forced him to hang up his boots. Speaking to ThePrint soon after his resignation, the officer said it was the death of his senior, IPS officer Madhukar Shetty, last year that made him re-examine his life.
Shetty, 47, passed away in December 2018, reportedly while undergoing treatment for swine flu. He left behind his wife and young daughter.
‘Singham Anna’
Over his nine-year tenure in the IPS, Tamil Nadu native Annamalai has earned the image of a strict policeman who has a heart of gold, with locals referring to him alternately as “Singham (lion, after the famous movie franchise)” or “Anna (Big brother)”.
He started his career with a stint as assistant superintendent of police for Karkala, Karnataka, with a promotion subsequently taking him to Udupi as superintendent of police.
While in Udupi, the officer went to a provision store one day and asked for a packet of cigarettes, gutka and beedis. The shopkeeper promptly handed them over: When the officer pointed out that the sale of these products was banned at general stores, the owner requested a reduction in the Rs 30,000 fine. “Pay this amount today or you will have to pay a lakh tomorrow,” the officer is said to have replied.
Annamalai became so popular during this posting that locals organised protests when he was transferred to the neighbouring Chikkamagalur district.
In the new posting, Annamalai is said to have unleashed a major crackdown on gambling centres.
One day, a source in local police told ThePrint, he landed at one such centre in plainclothes as part of an undercover operation. Though the manager of the establishment had alerted his patrons about the raid, many of them, secure in the knowledge of their “political connections”, refused to budge.
Annamalai is said to have walked straight up to one of the “gambling leaders” sitting at a table, held him by his collar and slapped him.
In August 2016, he also suspended four police constables when he caught them red-handed during a raid at another gambling centre.
His empathetic side was captured in a viral photo from December 2017 that showed him changing the tyre of a stranded vehicle late at night, by a road running through a forest area. The vehicle, carrying tourists, had been on its way to a temple in Sringeri, Karnataka, when the puncture occurred. Annamalai stopped to help while passing by. When he couldn’t fix the tyre, he transported the tourists to the city in his own vehicle, but not before calling in a crane to take the car to a nearby garage.
#IPS officer #Annamalai tries to change the #tyre of a #tourist vehicle which had broken down in the heart of the forest in #Chikkamagaluru pic.twitter.com/R8ahVLYQlS
— Lakshmikantha B K (@LakshmikantKTOI) December 29, 2017
However, Annamalai has been said to be harbouring political ambitions for a while now. During his stint in Chikkamgalur, sources in the BJP told ThePrint, he is said to have closely observed the working of a local leader with whom he also had heated discussions on politics. According to the sources, the officer even met BJP national president Amit Shah during the recent Lok Sabha campaign in Karnataka.
The writer of this article intentionally misguides readers like as if Annamalai was the cause of the death. Glorified prostiturion is what ThePrint is about. I would shudder if my daughter or sister worked on such a cheap presstitute org.
The officer in the pic is Shri sharanappa D not annamalai. Kindly rectify the mistake
The file pic shown in this article is not of Mr. Annamalai, IPS… Same may be changed and updated by the theprint newspaper team…
Wrong photo of officer