According to Mandya Superintendent of Police (SP) Mallikarjun Baladandi, the locals informed the police control room after the body they had found a body floating in the Cauvery.
Published May 11, 2025 | 12:11 PM ⚊ Updated May 11, 2025 | 5:24 PM
Subbanna Ayyappan receiving the Padma Shri award.
Synopsis: Renowned agricultural scientist Subbanna Ayyappan (70) was found dead in the Cauvery River near Srirangapatna. His family had registered a complaint at the Vidyaranyapuram Police Station in Mysuru on 8 May after he went missing on the previous day.
Renowned agricultural scientist Subbanna Ayyappan (70), a Padma Shri Awardee, was found dead in the Cauvery River near Srirangapatna in the Mandya district of Karnataka — 20 km away from Mysuru — on Saturday, 10 May.
According to Mandya Superintendent of Police (SP) Mallikarjun Baladandi, the locals informed the police control room after the body they had found a body floating in the Cauvery.
He said, “We recovered the body from the river on Saturday and have sent it for post-mortem. His two-wheeler was also parked near the river. We are still investigating the reason behind his death.”
Venugopal Badaravada, a former member of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research’s (ICAR) governing body, has demanded a court-monitored Central Bureau of Investigation probe, PTI reported.
In two separate letters that he has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah, he termed Ayyappan’s death “untimely and mysterious”.
“The tragic event reveals deep-rooted corruption, irregular appointments and abuse of power within the ICAR ASRB [Agricultural Scientists Recruitment Board] and affiliated institutions,” he wrote.
“Ayyappan’s death might be an institutional vendetta or administrative collapse, as the scientific and farming communities are already alleging,” he wrote.
Ayyappan is survived by his wife and two daughters. They had registered a complaint at the Vidyaranyapuram Police Station in Mysuru on 8 May after he went missing on the previous day.
After receiving the complaint, the police analysed several CCTV footage to trace the path he had taken. They noted that Ayyappan was seen travelling on his scooter near Varthur Junction on the Mysuru-Bengaluru Road.
The Vidyaranyapuram police informed the Srirangapatna police to search for Ayyappan in that particular region.
Born on 10 December 1955, he hails from Yalandur in the Chamarajanagar district. Before retiring, Ayyappan used to work in the agriculture and fisheries (aquaculture) departments in various institutes of Delhi, Mumbai, Bhopal and Bengaluru. He played an important role in India’s Blue Revolution and was awarded the Padma Shri in 2022.
Ayyappan completed his graduation in 1975 and post-graduation in 1977 in Mangaluru. In 1998, he received his Phd from Bangalore Agricultural University. As an agricultural researcher, he is credited with building various institutions. He was the Chancellor of Central Agricultural University (CAU), Imphal.
He had also served as Secretary of the Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE), Managing Director of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), and President of the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences.
He has made significant contributions in the fields of agriculture and research and has chaired many committees. He has received numerous awards.
(Edited by Muhammed Fazil.)
