BENGALURU: Former Director General & Inspector General of Police C Dinakar, who was known as a ‘firebrand’ officer, passed away in the wee hours of Thursday. He was 77. Dinakar headed the state police force from April 8, 2000 to February 28, 2001. A resident of Indiranagar, Dinakar was hospitalised for the last few days. He passed away around 12.30 am on Thursday, after suffering multi-organ failure. The last rites were held at Kalpalli Cemetery on Thursday evening.
He was the first IPS officer in the state to question the decision of the state government on appointing a junior IPS officer as state police chief. Interestingly, he had argued his own case in the court of law and had won the case. During his stint as the DG & IGP, he faced a challenging task of maintaining law and order as it was during this time Kannada matinee idol Rajkumar was abducted by forest brigand Veerappan.
He also recorded details of the 108-day kidnap saga in his controversial book ‘Veerappan’s Prize Catch: Rajkumar’, after his retirement. The book, released in 2003, had put the then Congress government led by SM Krishna in a tight spot, as it had controversial details regarding the alleged ransom paid to Veerappan for Rajkumar’s release.
After his retirement, he was practising law in the Karnataka High Court. In January 2017, he had filed Public Interest Litigation in the HC against the proposed ‘Open Street Festival’ in HAL Second Stage, where court ruled in his favour.
Speaking to The New Indian Express, former DG&IGP Shankar M Bidari remembered Dinakar as an officer with a highly professional approach. “His style of functioning had increased the vigour of the staff. He was a competent officer and handled situations well. I am grateful to him for his encouragement. All his subordinates respected him a lot,” he said.