New Delhi: Renowned agriculture scientist Subbana Ayyapan was found dead in the Cauvery river near Srirangapatna in the Mandya district of Karnataka on Saturday (May 10). He died at the age of 70 and is survived by his wife and two daughters.

The family of Ayyapan registered a police complaint at the Vidyaranyapuram Police Station in Mysuru on May 8 after he was missing since the previous day, as reported by South First.

The police learnt that Ayyapan was travelling on his scooter near Varthur junction on the Mysuru-Bengaluru road. According to Mandya Superintendent of Police (SP) Mallikarjun Baladandi, Ayyapan’s body was found floating in the river by the locals.

“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,” Mandya SP was quoted as saying by South First.

A former Indian Council of Agriculture Research’s (ICAR) governing body member by the name of Venugopal Badaravada has asked for a CBI probe, which should be monitored by the court. Venugopal wrote two separate letters to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah.

In the letters, Venugopal hinted at the possibility of abuse of power within the the ICAR ASRB (Agricultural Scientist Recruitment Board) and affiliated institutions. He termed the renowned agriculturist’s death either as an ‘institutional vendetta’ or ‘administrative collapse’.

Subbanna Ayyappan hailed from Yalandur in the Chamarajanagar district. He has worked in various aquaculture departments in agriculture and fisheries in institutes of Delhi, Mumbai, Bhopal and Bengaluru. He was awarded Padma Shri in 2022 for his vital contributions in India’s Blue revolution.

He also served as Secretary of the Department of Agricultural Research and Education (DARE), Managing Director of ICAR, and President of the National Academy of Agricultural Sciences.