SR Raghavendra is the new 38-year-old police inspector of HSR Layout. After a wait of over three months, the neighbourhood finally gets a senior police officer. He replaces DR Nagaraj who is now in charge of Bommanahalli police station.
 
Raghavendra is not new to HSR though. He had served in HSR from 2013 to 2015. He is back again after completing his terms in Siddapura and Kalasipalya. He got into the police service in 2003, and has 15 years of experience under his policing belt.
 
However, BNR Reddy, chairman, Federation of Residents Welfare Association, opposes his appointment. “We have heard about corruption charges against him when he served in Hassan, Kalasipalya and HSR,” he told Residents Watch. “We don’t want such an inspector and are going to write to the relevant authorities about it.”
 
Raghavendra refutes these allegations. “I have no corruption charges against me till date,” he told Residents Watch. “The residents will get to know my work in the next 2-3 months.”
 
RS Murthy, former president of Sector 2 Residents Welfare Association, says: “Raghavendra wasn’t as good as his predecessor Rajesh, but he wasn’t bad either. I remember that he would hear all our complaints with a patient ear. However, the person who came next, Victor Simon, was the worst. The next person Nagaraj was just as bad as he did not do much in the area and the criminal activities also went up around the same time in HSR Layout.”
 
In 2007, Raghavendra was honoured with the CM’s gold medal for his work as an investigation officer in Hassan where he served as a sub inspector. The police officer prides himself on getting a conviction a month ago in a gangrape case when he was the HSR inspector in 2014. In November 2018, the city civil court convicted four people to 20 years of rigorous imprisonment, Rs 50,000 fine and Rs 7 lakh relief to the woman who was raped in front of her family members in her house in Bellandur.
 
In 2016, Raghavendra was honoured by the Salumarada Thimakka Samiti. He has been given several cash awards and appreciation letters as well. He has even written a book of poems in Kannada called ‘Seleta’ (attraction) in 2003. He has also donated towards the education of many poor students.
 
That’s not all. Raghavendra is a law graduate from Hassan known to have donated blood on 20 occasions. He celebrates the birthdays and wedding anniversaries of his colleagues with a cake and bouquet at the police station itself, and relieves them for the day, so they can spend their auspicious day with their loves ones. On wedding anniversaries, he invites their spouse to cut the cake at the station. He also rewards his staffers from his personal pocket for exceptional work.