In a rare gesture, 590 newly-appointed police sub-inspectors (PSIs), undergoing training at the Police Training College (PTC) in Naganahalli on the outskirts of Kalaburagi, have decided to contribute ₹10,000 each — around one-third of their monthly salary — to the family of their young colleague who died on Sunday.
The financial help adds up to ₹59 lakh.
Basavaraj Manchanur, 27, collapsed on the roadside and died on the spot on Sunday.
N. Shashikumar, Superintendent of Police, said that he was moved by the gesture.
“The trainee officers set a model for other public servants serving in the police and other departments by offering financial security to the family of their deceased colleague apart from expressing the grief,” Mr Shashikumar told The Hindu . Manchanur, who hailed from a poor family at Benakanahalli in Sedam taluk, was learnt to be the lone breadwinner of his family.
He had completed his B.Sc. and MBA and he had cleared the competitive examination and got selected for PSI post. He was under training for the last nine months in the PTC Naganahalli.
Taking note of the incident, Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy took to Twitter on Monday to express the “generous and commendable gesture.”
He also said that he had directed the officials concerned to release compensation to the family of the deceased as per the norms at the earliest. Home Minister M.B. Patil too was full of praise for spirit of brotherhood in his department.
The officer was buried with State honours at his farm in his native village Benakanahalli on Monday. Police personnel and villagers in large number participated in the funeral.
