Rajesh Kumar

Rajesh Kumar is the pseudonym of KR Rajagopal, a Tamil author of crime fiction. Kumar's first published story was in 1968 or 1969, in the college magazine of Government Arts College, Coimbatore, where he earned a degree in botany. He has attributed this to a prank by another student, who used Kumar's name when volunteering to submit a story for the magazine; when his professor refused to allow Kumar to back out, "the next day" he "reluctantly" submitted "Vaazhndhu Kaatuvom", a love story. Later that year, he submitted the crime story "Unnai Vidamaatten" to a short story contest in Malai Murasu; this was the first story for which he was paid. In 1977, his work began appearing in Kumudam, starting with the short story "Idhu Nyayama".