A cop who stuck on in Puttaparthi for 4 decades

HYDERABAD: A classic example of the say that the Sathya Sai Baba Trust has in the police postings in Anantapur district is B Narsimhulu , who was DSP of Puttaparthi till last Wednesday. He joined the police force in the late 60s, and continued to stay on in the temple town for the last four decades barring brief stints in other places.Narasimhulu was sub-inspector when violence rocked Prasanthi Nilayam in 1993. Four young boys were gunned down by the cops inside the baba's abode and it is not clear to this date as to what triggered the violence and why were the boys killed. "Narasimhulu rose from the rank of sub-inspector to circle inspector to DSP while serving at Puttaparthi. Whenever he was transferred out of Puttaparthi, higher officials in Hyderabad used to get phone calls from Prasanthi Nilayam with clear instructions to send Narasimhulu back to the temple town," said a police officer.According to the sources, in one instance, when Narasimhulu was posted out and Venkata Reddy brought in, powerful trust members immediately got Venkata Reddy posted to Puttaparthi airport and brought back Narasimhulu.
This time around, his luck appears to have run out as the state on Wednesday gave Penugonda DSP Kolar Krishna additional charge of Puttaparthi and did not give Narasimhulu any posting.During the recent hospitalisation of Sai Baba before his eventual death on April 24 this year, Anantapur SP Shanawaz Kasim was chided by the trust members for setting up various check-points into the temple town. "A furious Kasim complained to DGP K Aravinda Rao after which key police personnel in Penugonda and Puttaparthi divisions were transferred. Interestingly, one of the three arrested in the Rs 35 lakh cash seizure case, Harishnanda Shetty, is linked to the police indirectly: his father is a retired special director of the Intelligence Bureau. The clout enjoyed by the trust may be waning, but has not disappeared completely, said the sources. "Before the incident in which three persons were caught transporting Rs 35.5 lakh cash from Puttaparthi to Bangalore, there were many such seizures but after telephone calls from senior AP police officials in Hyderabad and Karnataka police officials in Bangalore, both the persons detained and the cash were allowed to go," said the police sources.
Anantapur DIG Charu Sinha visits Prasanthi Nilayam twice a week and is a well-known person in the temple town.An ardent follower of the baba's preachings, Charu Sinha has been maintaining cordial relations with all the trust members and personally monitored the situation in Puttaparthi when the baba was hospitalised in April.