Hassan, Jan 6: Freedom fighter, former Minister and well-known Gandhian HG Govinde Gowda breathed his last at his residence near Koppa in Chikkamagaluru district on Wednesday. He was 90.
The politician with a difference had been suffering from old-age-related health problems for the last few months. For the last one month, he was bed-ridden and was treated at his home ‘Manipura’.
Born on May 25, 1926, he was actively involved in the freedom struggle and got into politics later in Independent India through the town municipal council. He was known as ‘Malnad Gandhi’
He was elected president of Koppa Municipal Council in 1952. He was elected to the Legislative Assembly from Sringeri constituency for the first time in 1983. He was Minister for State for Primary Education and Adult Education between 1983 and 86.
Later in the Deve Gowda Cabinet, he was Primary and Secondary Education Minister. During his tenure, he was instrumental in introducing a common entrance test to recruit teachers. More than 90,000 teachers were appointed when he was the Minister. He quit politics in 1999, as his term as MLA came to an end.
He is survived by a wife and six children. The final rites would be held at his residence in Koppa on Thursday.
The kidnapped schoolboy was rescued by the police and reunited with his parents. Son of a gift shop owner from Basavanagudi area in Bengaluru, Chirag has reportedly told police that decided to make some quick money to spend on cricket betting and gambling after learning kidnap tricks from the ‘Crime Patrol’. According to police, Chirag reached a private school around 3pm on Tuesday on a Bounce rental bike and zeroed in on a fourth standard student who was walking out of school. He told the boy he was his father's friend and that he required help to search for a relative who had gone missing. The boy believed Chirag and rode pillion on the bike. Chirag then engaged the boy in conversation and learnt about his father's business and got his mobile phone number. He then made a call to the boy's father, demanded Rs 5 lakh and warned him against approaching cops. However, the boy's father alerted Cottonpet police and special teams were formed to crack the case. While Cottonpet inspector Venkatesh TC's squad verified CCTV footage in and around the school, Chamarajpet inspector BG Kumaraswamy's team started tracking the suspect's mobile phone movements. An hour later, the suspect's location was traced to a hotel on the Lavelle Road-St Mark's Road stretch. Police rushed there, rescued the boy and arrested Chirag.
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