Senior police officers on Friday recalled that C. Vijayakumar, Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Coimbatore Range, who allegedly shot himself to death on Friday, was a self-made officer who excelled in all the tasks assigned to him.
Two years after joining the force as a Deputy Superintendent of Police by clearing the TNPSC Group I examination, Vijayakumar was roped into the special team of the Tamil Nadu police that launched an operation to crack down on the notorious Bawaria gang, which specialised in organised dacoity and robbery, in 2005.
As a DSP, Vijayakumar was part of the meticulously planned operation of the Tamil Nadu police that led to the gunning down of two members of the gang in Uttar Pradesh and the arrest of the others. The operation was launched soon after the murder of AIADMK Gummidipoondi MLA K. Sudarsanam in January 2005.
“It is sad that we have lost one of our able police officers. He played a key role in the Bawaria operation,” said S.R. Jangid, former Director-General of Police, who led the operation as an Inspector-General of Police.
A. Arun, Additional Director-General of Police (Law & Order), remembered Vijayakumar as a very efficient officer. “He worked with dedication and earned praise wherever he worked,” he said.
While working in the police force, Vijayakumar aspired to become an IPS officer and cracked the UPSC examination in 2009.
“He was a self-made officer. With sheer determination, he wrote the UPSC and became an IPS officer. He was an officer with no allegation of corruption against him. He was also a very good field officer who went to the field without being prompted to do so by his superiors,” said V. Balakrishnan, Coimbatore City Commissioner of Police.
After he was promoted as DIG and posted in Coimbatore, Vijayakumar was largely involved in administrative work of the Coimbatore Range.
R. Sudhakar, IG West Zone, remembered Vijayakumar as a sincere, supportive, loyal and dedicated officer. “He was one person I could depend on and trust fully once a job was entrusted to him. He was kind-hearted,” Mr. Sudhakar said.
V. Badrinarayanan, Coimbatore Superintendent of Police, said Vijayakumar was one of the best human beings he had known.
“He was my longest-serving boss, mentor and elder brother. He was such a fine officer who guided us on a day-to-day basis, and was the one and only ‘super cop’ who faced every challenge with a smile and conquered it. I am proud to have been his ASP and SP. I will be missing him all my life,” said Mr. Badrinarayanan, whose camp office is adjacent to that of Vijayakumar at Red Fields in Coimbatore.
As the Deputy Commissioner, Anna Nagar, Vijayakumar led the team which expeditiously cracked the robbery at Fedbank-Gold Loan’s Arumbakkam branch in Chennai in August last year.
(Assistance for overcoming suicidal thoughts is available on the State’s health helpline 104, Tele-MANAS 14416 and Sneha’s suicide prevention helpline 044-24640050)
