The last words of ASP Anand Joseph Tigga of Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB), who died in a road mishap near Kuru at NH-75 in Lohardaga, 75km from Ranchi, on Thursday morning were to his two bodyguards, asking them to put on their seat belts.
"Sir asked us why Sonu and I hadn't put on our seat belts. He told us that if police personnel don't follow traffic rules, how will common people follow them. His advice saved our lives," Tigga's bodyguard of eight years, Santosh Toppo said after his boss's funeral on Friday.
Tigga's widow Sonali, his two primary school-going children Aditya and Shaina Neela, colleagues at ACB where Tigga joined in 2013 and scores of people assembled in dignified sorrow after the body of the 1999-batch police officer was brought to St Mary's Cathedral on Purulia Road for last prayers around 11.30am.
"Whom the gods love die young. But, Anand will live in our memory. He set an example of how to serve humanity and society," chief priest Theodore Toppo said.
After a three-hour prayer service, his body was taken to the Catholic cemetery at Kantatoli Chowk.
Sonali, a schoolteacher, stayed protectively close to her children Aditya and Shaina Neela, students of St Xavier's School and Loreto Convent, respectively. Refusing to speak to the media, she choked on the words: "What do I say?"
"He was very caring, jovial and sensitive. He took care of our extended family and helped many of us build our careers," said Tigga's cousin Ajay Joseph Tigga, an office assistant at the state health department.
Visibly moved bodyguard Toppo recalled the accident that claimed Tigga's life. "We were four of us on that SUV, sir (Tigga), his bodyguards Sonu and me, and driver Rajesh Gudia, going to Daltonganj on official work, when on NH-75, suddenly a speeding truck came from another direction. Gudia, who swerved the SUV to the extreme left flank of the road to avoid the truck, lost control of the vehicle. The SUV rolled down a ditch," recalled Toppo.
"The SUV's full impact fell on sir, who was sitting on the left in the back seat," said Toppo who fractured his right hand, adding Sonu, the other bodyguard, and driver Gudia suffered minor injuries.
The trucker managed to escape, he added.
Mithilesh Kumar Singh who retired as DSP (ACB) last year remembered his first meeting with Tigga in 2001.
"He was a very young man then, but impressed us with his zeal and bravery," said Singh, then posted as an inspector in Rohtas, Bihar, about Tigga, who was then a DSP with Special Task Force of Bihar Police.
"Tigga contacted me for a joint operation against rebels illegally mining in Tarachandi forests. Carrying his assault rifle, he led the force. He had meticulously planned the operation, because as many as 125 tractors and 20 trucks used for illegal mining were seized. Much later, when I joined the ACB in 2014, he gave me every support," Singh said.
Indushekhar Jha currently, ACB inspector, said everyone found Tigga very down to earth. "Even grade IV staff of the bureau did not hesitate sharing their problems with Tigga. He had solutions to their problems. He was also very particular and sincere in investigations," Jha said.
