BENGALURU: Surendra Kumar was known for his love of dogs. In fact, the businessman had leased two acres of land on the outskirts of the city to shelter 56 dogs he had rescued from the streets.
He was also a big supporter of Kannada medium government schools and had set up a trust — Paruchuri Global Foundation — to promote education, provide medical relief for poor people, and care for animals.
People close to him say as a single man, Surendra dedicated his life to taking care of dogs. He had 15 workers at his farmhouse and residence to take care of the dogs. Nine dogs stayed with him at his house in Sanjaynagar and the remaining were at the farmhouse.
As the head of a charitable trust, he provided financial assistance to Kannada medium schools in border areas in the state and helped poor students with their education.
Surendra’s cousin, Captain Choudhary, said Surendra stayed alone at his rented house in Sanjaynagar in Hanumaiah Layout. He used to live in RT Nagar but moved out of the apartment when the owner asked him to.
Speaking to Express, Choudhary said, “Half an hour before Surendra was shot, I had spoken to him over the phone for about five minutes.” On Sunday afternoon, Surendra had gone to Hosur to buy firecrackers and then came back to his security agency office in Hebbal. He distributed the firecrackers and sweets to the staff and was on his way to his farmhouse on IVC road at Kammanapalya near Devanahalli.
“I was in Raichur when he spoke to me over the phone. His personal secretary, Deepankar Saikia, called me at 10.12pm and said that Surendra Kumar was shot by two men. He was taken to a private hospital and I called the hospital but was told that he had been moved to MS Ramaiah. He was declared dead there.
“I left Raichur and reached the city early in the morning and gave the information to the police who filed a case. Surendra shared no enmity with anyone and treated everybody like his family,” Choudhary said.
He added, “Surendra told me that if he had married, the dogs would be neglected.”
A native of Andhra Pradesh, Surendra moved to Bengaluru in 2000 and started a financing business. He then opened the security agency and the trust. Recognising his work supporting government schools, the Karnataka government felicitated him.