CBI will probe Kartaka IAS officer's death

Bengaluru, March 23:  The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) would probe the “untural” death of Kartaka IAS officer D.K. Ravi here on March 16, state Chief Minister Siddaramaiah announced here on Monday. After rejecting the demand by the opposition parties, an outraged public and Ravi’s bereaved family since March 17, Siddaramaiah told lawmakers in the legislative assembly that he was referring the case to the CBI in deference to the feelings of Ravi’s parents, who are shattered by his mysterious passing away. “I understand the feelings of Ravi’s parents (Gowramma and Kariyappa) and respect public sentiments. As wished by them, the CBI will probe the reason(s) for their son’s tragic death,” Siddaramaiah said amid commotion in the lower house, as the opposition BJP and Jata Dal-Secular (JD-S) members jeered at him.

Ravi, 36, was found dead — hanging from a ceiling fan in his bedroom — in his apartment in the city’s upscale southeast suburb by his wife Kusuma on that fateful day after he did not attend to her calls since noon. City police commissioner M.N. Reddi had termed Ravi’s death prime facie a case of suicide on the basis of evidence gathered during the prelimiry investigation. The state government on March 17 ordered an inquiry by the state’s Crimil Investigation Department (CID) under Section 174 of the IPC (Indian Pel Code), pertaining to suicide and not Section 302 of the IPC, which deals with murder. The 2009 batch officer was the city-based additiol commissioner in the state’s commercial tax department since December 2014 after he was transferred out as deputy commissioner of Kolar district, about 100 km from here, where he built a reputation of being an upright officer for reining in the sand and land mafias.

The decision to transfer probe into his death to the CBI came three days after ruling Congress president Sonia Gandhi on March 20 advised Siddaramaiah to that effect. Vociferous demand for the CBI probe by the BJP and JD-S in both the houses had rendered the budget session of the state legislature paralysed since March 17.

Asserting that his government did not want to hush up the case or intend to shield anyone, a defiant chief minister said the CBI would also probe the “foul play” charge levelled by the parents in the mysterious death of their son.

“No politics should be played in matters of death. We don’t believe in it. The opposition should also not do it,” Siddaramaiah said. The Kartaka High Court on Sunday evening put on hold the release or making public the CID’s interim report into Ravi’s death. (ians)