Retired IPS officer Acharya Kishore Kunal passes away at 74: Who was he?

Retired IPS officer Acharya Kishore Kunal, who founded the Mahavir Mandir Trust in Bihar, died of cardiac arrest in Patna on Sunday, PTI reported. Bihar Deputy Chief Minister Samrat Chaudhary paid tribute to the retired bureaucrat and said “his death is an irreparable loss to the society”.

Kunal suffered a cardiac arrest on Sunday morning and was rushed to the hospital, where he died during treatment, PTI reported, quoting his family members.

Who was Acharya Kishore?

Acharya Kishore was a IPS officer of 1972 batch, was the head of Bihar State Board of Religious Trust (BSBRT). He was one of the founding members of the Ayodhya Ram Mandir Trust.

Acharya Kishore Kunal completed his school education from Baruraj village in Muzaffarpur. Later, he graduated in history Patna University. He also worked in the department of the Ministry of the Interior. Kunal became an IPS officer in 1972 from Gujarat cadre. During his tenure in the state, Kunal’s first posting was in Anand, he later went on to serve as Deputy Commissioner of Police in Ahmedabad till 1978.

After retiring from police services in 2000, Acharya Kishore Kunal became the Vice-Chancellor of Darbhanga University.

He was also the secretary of the Mahavir Mandir Trust, which runs several hospitals in the state. Bihar Deputy CM Samrat Choudhary said Kishore Kunal played a key role in giving Mahavir Mandir a national identity and his unprecedented work for the weaker section of the society is commendable.

“He gave Mahavir Mandir a national identity and did unprecedented work for the upliftment of the weaker sections of the society. His contribution is hard to express in words. His death is an irreparable loss to society. I pray to God to give peace to the departed soul and strength to his family to bear this pain,” Choudhary said.