Gopinatham revers slain IFS officer Srinivas

Chamarajanagara: Gopinatham, a small village on the border ofKarnataka and TamilNadu was in the news almost daily three decades ago when forest brigand Veerappan was active in the region. Today, the villagers of Gopinatham remember martyr IFS officer P Srinivas dailyat the Mariamma temple constructed by the officer himself in 1990s.

Gopinatham situated in Hanur taluk of the district was a remotevillage without minimum basic infrastructure. It was only after PSrinivas took charge as DCF of Chamarajanagara and AssistantCommandant of Special Task Force (STF) formed by government to nabbrigand Veerappan the village changed.The officer constructed a Mariamma temple in the village , and built more than 40 houses for poor.

The villagers of Gopinatham have planned to install a metal statue inmemory of Srinivas and would construct a mantap in temple premisesfor installation of martyr bust. Following request of villagers theforest officials inChamarajanagara donated money and gifted a bustto villagers. The villagers havea great reverence for DCF Srinivas who was pivotal in transforming the village into a model village.

Speaking to this paper on Thursday, the Temple Committee presidentMahalingappasaid that every villager in Gopinatham has a place for Srinivas in his heart. He said everyday day a first Arati in temple willbe held in name of Srinivas and a portrait of him was also fixed intemple to offer pooja. Hesaid Goddess Mariamma and Srinivas are samefor us. He said the annual festival of temple was held onWednesday on Ganesh Festival day. He said a stone mantap is beingconstructed in temple premises and they have planned to install the statue of Srinivas onSeptember 12 , the birthday of martyred officer.

Assistant Conservator of Forests, Cauvery Wild Life SanctuaryNAnkarajurecalled the memories with the deceased officer in 1990s. He said he was workingunder him at Gopinatham as Deputy Range Forest Officer when he was

killed by the brigand under pretext of surrender. He said Veerappan was sending messages through his brother Arjuna to DCF Srinivas that hewould surrender , even Arjuna showed his gun to officer that Veerappanis unarmed now. Veerappan also put a pre-condition that DCF should comealone with the five villagers whom he named and unarmed.

'On November10, 1991 early morning Srinivas with five other villagers went to

Veerappan's place. Soon after arriving atErakeyam forest , Veerappanshot at the officer and beheaded him , pricked his head with bamboostick and was seen dancing around it' revealed the official .

Ankarajusaid DCF Srinivas wasdeeply influenced by Acharya Vinoba Bhave and had a strong belief thatVeerappan can be persuaded to renounce weapons and violence. He remembered with sadness how all other officers told Srinivas to be cautious but the officerwas made to believe by a well enacted drama by brigand's brother Arjuna.

Nallur Madaiah a villager recalled :' On that fateful day I was supposed to accompany DCF Srinivas to the forest, but sensing foulplay by the brigand I decided not to go' . Srinivas along with Arjuna, Muniswamy,Ponnuswamy , Perumal and Krishna went to the forest. Soon after the teamcrossed the rivulet Veerappan who was hiding in the bushes shot at them. In theambush Ponnuswamy and Perumal fled inside forest and the other threewitnessed the whole incident. The brigand spared them as they were known to him. 'If I had gone with them I would not have been alive now' he added.

When contacted thenChamarajanagara CCF Manoj Kumar (now MD of Jungle

Lodges and Resorts ) said that he was participating in a programme at Gopinatham a year back. The villagers requested for metal bust of DCF Srinivas. We all donated money for the bust which carved byarchitect Hariprasad of Kolar at a cost of around Rs 60,000.

He said that a 3D print was necessary for the statue, as our ACF Ankaraju

had worked with Srinivas, knew his features well. So, the statueis life-like resembling Srinivas he added. The forest department has given a fitting honour to IFS officer P Srinivas by building a museum in his memory at Male Mahadeshwara Hills Wildlife Sanctuary. Speaking to The Hans India, MM Hills Wildlife Sanctuary DCF V Yedukondalu said that the jeep which was used by the slain officer was repaired at a cost of Rs 1.1 lakh. The first floorof the forest guest house was named after him.

He said the first floorof the museum contains various photographs depicting the late IFSofficer, his clothes and other memorabilia. Yedukondalurecalled how the slain officer was posthumously awarded thesecond-highest peacetime gallantry award, Kirti Chakra, on January 26,1992 for his honesty, dedication and courage.

In honour of theofficer, a temple also has been built at the place where he was slainby Veerappan.