Mandya: Following several opinions regarding the sudden demise of farmers leader and MLA K S Puttannaiah, police are said to have launched a secret probe into the case.

While some reports stated that K S Puttannaiah died of cardiac arrest on February 18 while watching a Kabaddi match at M V Stadium, another report states that he suffered cardiac arrest while travelling in a car in Mandya.

The conflicting reports on the death has forced the police department to carry out a secret investigation into the case. The sources from the police are collecting information regarding Puttannaiah’s schedule on the day of demise, people who accompanied him, information about the breakfast and lunch provided to him etc.

Doctors have confirmed that Puttannaiah had a stroke, was taken to a private hospital and was later shifted to district hospital where he was declared dead. However, there are reports that his body was taken to his native village Kyathanahalli before his family members reached the district hospital.

A leader of the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha and associate of farmer leader M D Nanjundaswamy, Puttanniah was later associated with the Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha (Hasiru Sene). Puttannaiah lost three Assembly elections from the erstwhile Pandavapura constituency and once from Mandya in the Lok Sabha elections. He was elected to the assembly in 1994 from Pandavapura, Mandya, as an independent. In 2013, he was re-elected from Melkote constituency as a candidate of Sarvodaya Party led by Dalit writer Devanuru Mahadeva.

Puttannaiah’s death is a big blow to the farmers’ movement in the State. Whether it was the issue of load-shedding or the fixing of procurement price for sugarcane, Puttannaiah was always in the forefront, raising his voice for the support of farmers. His vast knowledge on various inter-State water-sharing disputes, especially the Cauvery issue between Tamil Nadu and Karnataka, and his eagerness to solve woes of farming community had earned him wide recognition as a farmers’ leader.