Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru

Mangaluru, Oct 4: Former international athlete, industrialist and philanthropist Lokanath Bolar passed away late evening on Saturday October 3. He was 73.

Loknath Bolar was an alumni of St Aloysius College and had graduated in the year 1971. He was a star Kabaddi player and was a household name in the district. Bolar had won 6 consecutive gold medals at the national level in powerlifting and was the captain of the Indian powerlifting team. He was honoured with the Mysore Dasara award in 1978 and the prestigious Karnataka Rajyotsava award in 1980.

He was an employee of Indian Railways and had pursued his childhood dream of becoming an entrepreneur in the fishing industry post retirement. He was the first person to introduce steel boat concept in the state of Karnataka.

Bolar dedicated his life for the betterment of the fishing industry and was a philanthropist recognised all over the state as well as the country.

He pioneered cooperative movement in the fishing industry and ensured that the boat owners got a fair price for their catch. He was the president of Mangaluru Yantrika Meenugarara Prathamika Sahakari Sangha which is a premier cooperative society in the state. He had undertaken many international fishing expeditions and had brought in best practices from abroad to the fishing industry of Karnataka.