Former DGP BN Garudachar no more

BENGALURU: One of Karnataka’s well-known police officers, B N Garudachar, passed away at 3 am on Friday at the age of 97. He was the father of Chickpet BJP MLA Uday Garudachar and was known for dedication and honesty in the police department.

His funeral will be held at 4 pm on Saturday at Wilson Garden Crematorium, as per sources.

BN Garudachar, a native of Bindiganavile village in Nagamangala taluk of Mandya district, completed his education and joined the Karnataka State Police as an IPS officer of the 1954 batch. He served as a senior police officer in various districts and later became the Superintendent of Police and Deputy Commissioner of Police of Bengaluru (8 years) and Police Commissioner (4 years 2 months). He also served as DG&IGP of Karnataka (3 years, 8 months).

Impressed by his dedication, the Karnataka government had appointed him as a member of the Karnataka Appellate Tribunal (KAT), making it the first instance in history tht an IPS officer was appointed to the post. The central and state governments honoured him with various awards for his dedication and service.

Bindiganville Garudachar, IPS, 1954 batch of IPS, 07 RR passed away this morning at age 97. A Colossus who strode across generations of Police Officers served as Director General of Police as well as Commissioner of Police, then Bangalore City. A Pitamaha to all of us, with… pic.twitter.com/ls5NahdCdE

— Bhaskar Rao (@Nimmabhaskar22) March 28, 2025

BN Garudachar was the deputy commissioner of traffic police in Bengaluru in 1963 and initiated the first traffic signal in the Corporation Circle of Bengaluru. A plaque commemorating this historic event was unveiled in March 2021 by Garudachar himself, along with Kamal Pant, the then police commissioner of Bengaluru, and B R Ravikanthe Gowda, the joint commissioner of traffic police. B N Garudachar was also felicitated by the police department on this occasion.

He became the DIG in 1972, DIG (Intelligence) in 1975 , and police commissioner of Bengaluru in 1976, all during the tenure of Chief Minister Devaraj Urs. He was later promoted as Additional IG, and the DG&IGP. Known as a strict officer, Garudachar was close to former chief ministers Veerendra Patil, D Devaraja Urs, Gundu Rao and Ramakrishna Hegde.