By : Pramesh S Jain
ADIEU Tiger Madhukar Shetty:Nation bids ADIEU to Upright Honest role model IPS officer Madhukar Shetty confined to flames with full State honours:
A teary eyed Yeddadi village bid farewell to its favourite son of the soil K.Madhukar Shetty here on Sunday.
Senior police officials headed by Doley Barman,Director of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy (SVPNPA),where Shetty was posted as the Deputy Director.Minister U.T.Khader and a host of senior police officials from the academy were present at his final rites.Karnataka state police battled back their tears when Murali Shetty brother of the IPS officer lit the funeral pyre.
The Karnataka Home Minister,M.B.Patil with other ministers and Karnataka DG&IGP,Neelamani N Raju with Bengaluru city police commissioner,T.Suneel Kumar and with all IPS officers and other officers and Men in Khakhi bid a tearful adieu to senior IPS officer Madhukar Shetty at the Armed Police Training School campus Yelahanka where his mortal remains were kept on Saturday.
Senior IPS Officer from the State K. Madhukar Shetty (47) passed away at a private hospital in Hyderabad on Friday night following brief illness.
Shetty, known for his participation in operations against the forest brigand Veerappan as well as Maoists, besides his relentless crusade against corruption, succumbed to lung- and heart-related complications Saturday. The son of the late veteran Kannada journalist Vaddarse Raghuram Shetty, he is survived by his wife and daughter.
He was hospitalised over a week ago for suspected H1N1 infection-induced Pneumonia. He underwent surgery at the Hyderabad hospital on Wednesday and was on life support. He passed away at about 8.30 pm.
He was serving as Deputy Director of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy at Hyderabad. Madhukar Shetty was the son of renowned journalist late Vaddarse Raghuram Shetty who started Kannada newspaper ‘Mungaru’ in the 1980s.
Hailing from Udupi, the 1999 batch IPS Officer (Karnataka Cadre) served as ASP in Bengaluru Rural District, as Chamarajanagar SP, Chikkamagalur SP and as SP of Special Task Force during the last phase of anti-Veerappan operations.
Known as an upright officer, he played a major role in Karnataka Lokayukta’s inquiry into the Ballari mining scam as Lokayukta SP. He later took a five-year sabbatical and went to the US to study further.
Madhukar Shetty had recently returned to service and was serving as the Deputy Director of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy at Hyderabad.
Shobha karandalje, BJP MP,told media persons that,Madhukar Shetty had worked against Naxals in Sringeri.He was a sincere worker in the Lokayukta.He left for further studies to abroad after being disheartened by the government’s approach none of us expected him to pass away so soon at the age of 47 we are all extremely saddened she added.
M.B.Patil,Home Minister of Karnataka state told media persons,The DG will get other reports as well as reports from the hospital if something suspicious is found in the reports further action will be taken he added.
D.K.Shivakumar,Water resources minister told media persons that,Madhukar Shetty worked with us I was shocked to hear the news of his death last night his death should be investigated to find if it was due to natural causes or any other probe should be done he added.
Deeply saddened by the untimely death of our colleague Sri Madhukar Shetty IPS. Honest and sincere, he was an epitome of virtues that are worth emulation by anyone D.Roopa IPS tweeted.
Annamalai K, DCP South, said, it is Sad and tragic to hear our dearest Madhukar Shetty sir is no more. Had the privilege of knowing his close relatives in Udupi and it’s remarkable for 47 years he had this fierce will power and unbending ethic which was channelled to make our world a better place.May be the practicalities of our world couldn’t touch or change him from his purest state of being.His deeds in Chikkamagaluru are legendary. Land distribution to the poor which was encroached by the estate owners.He pushed his DC to do that.A village is named after him by the grateful people; Every SP who has worked there is benchmarked to him not only for the work we do but for the ideals with which we live; his missionary zeal non-tolerance for petty corruption; taking officers to his home for lunch after a crime meeting. List is endless.As the welsh poet,Dylan Thomas memorably wrote – “Rage, rage against the dying of the light and do not go gentle into that good night”.You didn’t not go gently sir, you have left an indelible mark and l’m sure you will continue to live among us with your ideals. Rest In Peace sir,Annamalai said.
Crackdown on illegal mining
Shetty was an integral part of the team that exposed illegal iron ore mining in Ballari, the backyard of powerful mining baron Janardhan Reddy.
During his tenure as the superintendent of police (SP) for Chikkamagaluru, Karnataka, between 2005 and 2006, he created a place in the hearts of many by helping the homeless find a safe roof.
It was here that he, along with the then deputy commissioner Harsh Gupta, took on rich planters who had encroached on government land.
In 2006, when a group of 35 families was evicted from the Tatkola forest, allegedly on the orders of government officials, Shetty and Gupta came up with the idea of allocating 64 acres of the land reclaimed from encroachers, on the edge of the Sargod Kundur reserve forest, to the families.
As a mark of gratitude, the people named the village Gupta-Shettyhalli.
Against corruption
While serving as superintendent of police with the Karnataka Lokayukta between 2009 and 2011, he was part of the team that investigated the several corruption cases filed against then chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa and minister Katta Subramanya Naidu.
These investigations proved costly for Yeddyurappa, now the Karnataka Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief, who ended up losing the CM’s chair in their wake.
The Lokayukta at the time, Justice Santosh Hegde (Retd), said Shetty had done “wonderful job as part of the team that exposed illegal mining”.
He also recalled how Shetty took on Naidu.
“When the decision was taken to establish the Bangalore airport in Devanahalli, Katta Subramanya began buying up land around the area,” Hegde told ThePrint. “He also began coercing people to give up their land. We received several complaints in the Lokayukta and Madhukar Shetty investigated them. Katta went to jail after the thorough investigation conducted by him.”
Dedicated to the job
Shetty, an officer of the 1999 batch, also served as SP in the Karnataka-Tamil Nadu special task force set up to track down Veerappan, who was killed in 2004.
Colleagues recall the events that followed to emphasise Shetty’s honesty and dedication to the job.
After the operation, the government offered all the members of the task force a piece of land each. Shetty refused, saying it was his duty to have been part of the operation. Such was his commitment to his uniform, said a senior police officer.
“There are only a few officers left who can stand up for what is right and never bend, that is Madhukar Shetty sir,” said one of the police officers he trained while attached to the Karnataka Police Academy, Mysuru.
“He would never have a cup of tea without paying for it and would always wait for the change after paying his bill,” said another police officer. “This showed his integrity.”
He also never used the government vehicle assigned to him for personal use. Shetty’s driver said that when posted at the Karnataka Police Academy, he would take the state transport corporation bus for visits to his hometown in Udupi.
He once even pulled up an officer who used his office vehicle for personal chores. “As SP, Chikkamagaluru, he found out that one of the inspectors was misusing the office car. He immediately ordered the car to be withdrawn from that officer and asked the inspector to take a bus and meet him at the SP office,” said an officer close to Shetty.
“Later, this decision of pulling up the officer was announced through the police wireless from the Chikkamagaluru police control room,” the officer added.
“Not always rosy”.
However, there was also a spell of disenchantment with the slow judicial system, which many a time even let off the corrupt, and Shetty took a two-year study sabbatical. This was, however, extended by three years as he completed his PhD in public administration from Rockefeller College of Public Affairs & Policy, University at Albany, New York.
Even so, he would encourage younger officers not to lose hope. “Stand up for at least one thing, once in your lifetime,” Shetty would advise young officers. “You may not do everything, every time. But just take up one thing at a time and stand up for it. One thing.”
