Renowned scientist had reportedly gone missing on May 7; Last rites held at Chamundi foothill with State honours

Mysuru: Padma Shri Dr. Subbanna Ayyappan (70), retired Director General of Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR) and former Secretary of Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE), was found dead under mysterious circumstances, at River Cauvery near Srirangapatna in Mandya district yesterday.

Ayyappan, who was residing along with his wife Uma at Sankalp Apartment, Akkamahadevi Road, Vishweshwaranagar Industrial Suburb, Vidyaranyapuram in city, had been outside, riding his two-wheeler on May 7, but did not return.

Worried relatives, who went searching for him, had lodged a missing complaint at Vidyaranyapuram Police Station on May 9. However, his body was found in a decomposed state in River Cauvery near Sri Sathya Sai Baba Ashram in Srirangapatna at around 2 pm on May 10, said Srirangapatna Inspector Prakash. Dr. Ayyappan’s two-wheeler was found near the river. It is suspected to be a case of accidental death, as during the preliminary investigation, it is surmised that ‘Dr. Ayyappan may have slipped into water, while doing meditation on the river bank.’

In recent years, Dr. Ayyappan was attracted towards spiritualism and was regularly practicing meditation on the banks of River Cauvery in Srirangapatna and participating in prayers at Sri Ramakrishna Ashram, Yadavagiri in Mysuru.

Family members

He is survived by his wife and two daughters Chinmayi, residing in Bengaluru and Tanmayi, residing in USA and sons-in-law. Meanwhile, as scheduled, Tanmayi, returned from abroad, on Friday evening, but Dr. Ayyappan had gone missing by that time, according to their relative Srinidhi Prabhakar. Dr. Ayyappan’s body was handed over to family members after post-mortem at MMC&RI mortuary today following which last rites were performed at the foot of Chamundi Hill with State honours.

Profile

Born on Dec. 10, 1955, Dr. Ayyappan, is a native of Alakere village in Yalandur taluk, Chamarajanagar district. He studied at National High School and National College, Basavanagudi in Bengaluru, before  joining the College of Fisheries, Bengaluru, from where he got his degree in 1975 and University of Agricultural Sciences (UAS), Bengaluru, from where he obtained his Master’s Degree in 1977.

Being a first non-crop scientist to head ICAR, Dr. Ayyappan had served in Delhi, Mumbai, Bhopal in Madhya Pradesh, Barrackpore in West Bengal, Bhubaneswar in Odisha and Bengaluru. He had also served as the Vice-Chancellor of Central Agricultural University (CAU), Imphal.

Awards

Dr. Ayyappan was conferred Padma Shri Award in 2022, considering his contributions to ‘Blue Revolution.’ In 2013, the State Government honoured him with Karnataka Rajyotsava Award.