MANGALORE: Dreaded rowdy-sheeter Panduranga Pai alias Pandu was described as kind and helpful, by neighbours and friends on Tuesday.
“He was respectful to elders and was a modern Robin Hood,” says Suma, a neighbour of the Pai family, before they shifted from Lily Bagh near Bhagawathi temple to Mary hill on the outskirts of the city.” Pandu was the only son of Taranath Pai (72) and Kasturi (66), after his elder brother Narayan died of a heart ailment.
He never provided any financial assistance and would steal from home to buy liquor, the neighbours added.
When Pandu was murdered, he died penniless. For Mahesh, who stepped in to bear the entire expenditure of the funeral, it was like repaying a favour. South Kanara Amateur Body Builders Association secretary, Mahesh recollected that in a blood donation camp organised by their forum, Pandu and his friends had donated nearly 40 out of the total 60 bottles of blood collected.
DCC vice-president Ivan D’Souza also the honorary president of South Kanara Amateur Body Builders Association, visited the mortuary to pay his respects.
Kasturi, who doted on her son, had offered many prayers for him to reform.
Pandu’s transformation from rowdy-sheeter to Hindu don was attributed to his short stint in RSS. “He had completed Officers Training Camp in RSS,” sources in VHP told The New Indian Express.