Former TN DGP who arrested Indira Gandhi dies

Former Tamil Nadu DGP V R Lakshminarayanan, who arrested the late Prime Minister Indira Gandhi in a corruption case, died here on Sunday following a brief illness, family sources said.

He was 91 and is survived by a son and two daughters. Lakshminarayanan, fondly known as VRL, was a 1951 batch IPS officer. He began his career as an Assistant Superintendent of Police in Madurai and then rose to become the Joint Director of Central Bureau of Investigation.

Lakshminarayanan had worked under various Prime Ministers including late Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi, Charan Singh, Morarji Desai. He had also arrested the late Indira Gandhi in 1977 in a graft case.

Lakshminarayanan retired in 1985 as a Director General of Police, Tamil Nadu. He was the brother of former Supreme Court Judge late V R Krishna Iyer.

VRL’s younger daughter Rama Narayanan said that her father passed away around 2 am on Sunday at his residence here. “…Usually a public figure will not be able to devote time and energy for their family. They have to make a choice. But Appa (father) had a unique way of being a hero within his family as well as a stalwart in public service,” said Rama Narayanan.

The last rites would be performed on June 25.