A young probationary IPS officer, Harsh Bardhan, tragically lost his life in a road accident on Sunday while en route to take charge of his first posting in Karnataka’s Hassan district. The 26-year-old officer, a 2023-batch recruit of the Karnataka cadre, had just completed his training at the Karnataka Police Academy in Mysuru.
The accident occurred around 4:20 pm near Kittane, approximately 10 km from Hassan when the police vehicle Bardhan was travelling in experienced a tyre burst. As a result, the vehicle swerved out of control, crashing into a house and a roadside tree. Bardhan sustained severe head injuries and was immediately rushed to Janapriya Hospital in Hassan. Despite efforts to transfer him to a hospital in Bengaluru, he succumbed to his injuries.
The driver of the vehicle, District Armed Reserve (DAR) constable Manjegowda, sustained only minor injuries and is receiving treatment in Hassan.
Bardhan, originally from Dosar village in Madhya Pradesh’s Singrauli district, was travelling to Hassan to assume his duties as the Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) in Holenarasipur. His family, hailing from Bihar, is deeply mourning his untimely death. His father, Akhilesh, serves as a sub-divisional magistrate. A civil engineer by training, Bardhan had completed six months of district practical training in Hassan before the accident.
The tragic incident has left the entire police fraternity and the state in shock. Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah expressed his heartfelt condolences on social media, sharing his sorrow at the loss of the young officer. "I am saddened to hear about the death of probationary IPS officer Harsh Bardhan in a horrific accident near Kittane, on the Hassan-Mysuru highway. It is very sad that such an accident happened while he was on his way to take charge as an IPS officer. This should not have happened when years of hard work were paying off. I pray to God that Harsh Bardhan's soul rests in peace. My condolences to his family," Siddaramaiah wrote.
