B. B. Ashok Kumar (also known as Tiger Ashok Kumar) is a retired Assistant Commissioner of Police credited with arresting several notorious criminals and the many police encounters in which he was involved trying to capture hardened criminals.

Early life

Born in Parane village,

Virajpet The town of Virajpet also spelled as Virajapete is the second town of the district of Kodagu (Coorg), in Karnataka. It is the main town of the ''Virajpet taluka'', south of the district, in the Kerala-Karnataka border. The name is an abbreviatio ...

Kodagu district Kodagu (also known by its former name Coorg) is an administrative district in the Karnataka state of India. Before 1956, it was an administratively separate Coorg State, at which point it was merged into an enlarged Mysore State. It occupies ...

Karnataka Karnataka (; ISO: , , also known as Karunāḍu) is a state in the southwestern region of India. It was formed on 1 November 1956, with the passage of the States Reorganisation Act. Originally known as Mysore State , it was renamed ''Karnat ...

state, he is the son of a coffee estate manager in Koppa-Chikkamagalur.

Police service

Kumar joined the Karnataka State Police Service in 1977 and is credited with 18 encounters. While being a part of Special Task Force of

Karnataka Police The Karnataka State Police Department is the law enforcement agency for the Indian state of Karnataka. The department is headed by the Director General and Inspector General of Police. Organization The District Police administration is headed ...

tasked to nab forest brigand

Veerappan Koose Munisamy Veerappan (18 January 1952 – 18 October 2004) was an Indian bandit turned domestic terrorist who was active for 36 years, and kidnapped major politicians for ransom. He was charged with sandalwood smuggling and poaching o ...

, Ashok is reported to have slain 13 accomplices of the brigand. Ashok and his police team were in the news for the Kammanahalli encounter killing of

history-sheeter In Indian English, a history-sheeter (sometimes referred to as a rowdy-sheeter ) is a person with a long criminal record. Known as a career criminal outside of South Asia, the term is found in newspapers of South Asian countries such as India and ...

Station Shekar. Kumar retired from service on 31 July 2012 and faces constant threat to his life from the criminal underworld.

Honours and awards

He won the President of India's Gold Medal three times and the gold medal of the Chief Minister of Karnataka once. Ashok was given the nickname of 'Tiger' by the Home Minister in 1984.

In films and literature

There are five Kannada movies made on his experience and adventures to date. *''Amaanusha (1989)'', with Ananth Nag acting as Kumar *''Circle Inspector'' (1995), with

Devaraj Devaraj (born 20 September 1953) is an Indian actor and theatre actor who works in Indian film industry. He has largely featured in Kannada films performing various roles as a lead character, supporting character and villainous character. He ha ...

acting as Kumar *''

Deadly Soma ''Deadly Soma'' is a 2005 Kannada biographical crime film written and directed by Ravi Srivatsa. The film is based on the real life incidents of an infamous underworld don, Deadly Soma. The film stars Aditya (Kannada actor), Aditya as the protago ...

'' (1998), with Devaraj as Kumar *''

Deadly-2 ''Deadly-2'' is a 2010 Indian Kannada-language biographical crime film directed and written by Ravi Srivatsa. The film is based on the real life incidents of an infamous underworld don, Soma and is a sequel to the same team's 2005 released film, ...

'' (2004), with Devaraj as Kumar *'' Mynaa'' (2013) with Sharath Kumar acting as Kumar Kumar has authored two books, * ''Huliya Nenapugalu'' – * ''Bullet Savari'' –

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kumar, B. B. Ashok 1952 births Living people Indian police officers Kodava people People from Kodagu district Karnataka Police