Army veteran who landed in Srinagar in 1947 passes away

: Major General S P Mahadevan, who was part of the "First Battalion of Madras Regiment" to land in Srinagar Valley in 1947, passed away here.

He was 93. He died yesterday after a brief illness, an official press release said.

Hailing from the temple town of Palani in Tamil Nadu, Mahadevan joined the Army in 1946.

He was tasked with protecting Mahatma Gandhi during the riots in Kolkata, the release said.

For his distinguished service under the then Lieutenant General Jagjit Singh Arora in Bangladesh, Mahadevan was awarded the Ati Vishisht Seva Medal (AVSM), it said.

Mahadevan, an alumnus of the National Defence College, had refused the recommendation for a citation for capturing a bridge from Belgian mercenaries, it added.

As General Officer Commanding-Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Karnataka, he was appreciated for the relief operation by the Army in Andhra Pradesh during a cyclone in 1978, the release said.

Former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M G Ramachandran was impressed with Mahadevan's arrangements for the funeral of former President V V Giri, the release added.

Mahadevan served as the chairman of Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission.

He was also the president of Sri Sathya Sai Baba Organisation-Tamil Nadu and encouraged devotees to organise medical camps, launch water projects, clean slum areas, among other social service, the release said.