Former SP of Udupi district, Karnataka IPS officer K Annamalai to join BJP today

Mangalore Today News Network

New Delhi, Aug 25, 2020:    Former Karnataka cadre Indian Police service officer popularly known as ’Singham’ K Annamalai on Tuesday will join the Bharatiya Janata Party. He had served as SP in Udupi district four years ago.

 

Speaking to The New Indian Express, the former IPS officer said he was a nationalist at heart and an admirer of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and naturally BJP was his choice of party when he decided to join politics.

Career as a police officer

Annamalai took over as DCP of Bengaluru (South) in October 2018. He is a graduate of PSG College of Technology in Coimbatore and Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow. A 2011 batch IPS officer, Annamalai is native to Karur in Tamil Nadu. He was first posted as the assistant superintendent of police, Karkala sub-division in Udupi district in 2013. He was later promoted to SP of Udupi on January 1, 2015.

Upon taking charge, he earned a reputation for cracking down on criminal activities in the coastal district. He was also popularly referred to as the ’Singam’ of Udupi. Annamalai frequently interacted with students studying in colleges, particularly in Manipal, where he implemented stringent rules restricting nightlife in the student town. Bars and restaurants were forcibly closed at 11:30 pm while students in the town were asked to identify and explain themselves if they were caught by the police after midnight.

He was transferred out of Udupi district and posted as SP of Chikkamagaluru district in July 2016. He earned further praise for his handling of the sensitive Baba Budangiri issue.  In December 2017, he organised a peace-keeping meeting between members of Hindu and Muslim communities following incidents of vandalism at the famous Baba Budangiri shrine in the district. The shrine is a pilgrimage site for both Hindus and Muslims.

K Annamalai, whose transfer from the post had led to protests by citizens, retired from services in 2019 to engage in social services. After a year’s break during which he was engaged in humanitarian activities in Tamil Nadu, Annamalai is set to join the BJP on Tuesday in New Delhi.

"There is a lot of misconception about the BJP in Tamil Nadu and there is a need to work to create awareness. I am a nationalist at heart and BJP is the only party that doesn’t have nepotism or sycophancy- if I may use that word. I will work for the party relentlessly," K Annamalai told The New Indian Express.

Karnataka Medical Education Minister K Sudhakar was one of the first BJP leaders to welcome Annamalai to the party fold.

"Retired IPS officer Annamalai joins the BJP today. Annamalai who served with honestly in Bengaluru, Chikkamagaluru sought voluntary retirement and is now joining the BJP. It gives me great happiness that he is joining the party. Wishing him the very best," K Sudhakar said in a tweet.

K Annamalai will join the BJP in the presence of BJP National General Secretary P Muralidhar Rao and Tamil Nadu BJP State President Sh L Murugan today.

Courtesy:Indian Express