Bengaluru: Bowing to public pressure over the mysterious death of IAS officer DK Ravi, the Karnataka government finally handed over the probe to the Central Bureau of Investigation. Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah made the announcement in the assembly saying: “We are handing over the probe into Ravi's death to the CBI not because of the pressure from the opposition (parties) but keeping in view the feelings of his family.”
The CBI will take over Ravi's case from the state Criminal Investigation Department (CID), which was entrusted to probe it, though preliminary investigation by a special police team found it to be a suicide case.
Ravi, 36, was found dead in his apartment in Bengaluru by his wife Kusuma and her father after he did not attend to her calls since noon. Meanwhile, Karnataka High Court stayed the tabling of the CID's interim report on death of the IAS officer. The order was passed on an emergency writ petition filed by the husband of a woman IAS officer whom Ravi had reportedly called many times and sent messages to her mobile phone before allegedly hanging himself from a ceiling fan at his apartment on March 16.
Earlier, violent protests took place across Karnataka over the question of a CBI probe into the death of Ravi. The protesters were lathicharged by the police in Bengaluru. In Tumkur too, the mob clashed with the police. The opposition BJP and JDS, which are holding an indefinite protest at the assembly, said they would take their demand to Governor Vajubhai Vala. The protesting lawmakers have spent two consecutive nights at the Assembly.
Sources said that the Union home minister Rajnath Singh had spoken to Siddaramaiah and advised that the state opt for a CBI inquiry. Despite the rising public anger, Siddaramaiah has said no to the demand for a CBI probe from various quarters. While an online petition to Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been signed by 1350,000 people, the BJP and JDS MLAs are on an indefinite dharna at the state assembly.
Karnataka's Kolar, where Ravi took on the sand mafia, had seen widespread protests after his death, which the police said, was a prima facie case of suicide. Ravi's father-in-law alleged that he was "being targeted" by a particular group. Last year, Ravi was deputed to the commercial tax department. He was investigating real estate majors and big jewellers for alleged tax evasion and had conducted several raids. Ravi's parents, who sat on a dharna after conducting the last rites, have threatened to commit suicide unless justice was done.
