Karnataka CM briefs governor on IAS officer's death probe

Bengaluru, March 20
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday briefed Governor Vajubhai Vala on the status of the investigation being conducted by the CID into the death of IAS officer D.K. Ravi.

"I have briefed the governor on the developments in Ravi's death case and told him that the CID was investigation the case on priority," Siddaramaiah told reporters at Raj Bhavan in the city centre.

Ravi, 36, was found dead on March 16 in his official apartment in upscale southeast suburb of Bengaluru by his wife Kusuma.

Police prime facie termed Ravi's death as a suicide for personal reasons, as there was no injuries on his body, which was found hanging by a ceiling fan in his bedroom.

The chief minister met the governor a day after the opposition BJP and the Janata Dal-Secular lawmakers submitted a memorandum to the latter seeking his intervention in transferring the case to the country's premier investigation agency.

The 2009 batch officer was additional commissioner of state commercial tax in the city since December 2014 following his transfer as deputy commissioner of Kolar district, about 100km away, where he earned the reputation of being an upright officer for reining in the sand and land mafias.

The state government has refused to hand over the sensational case to the CBI (Central Bureau of Investigation) even after the central government agreed to it on Thursday.

Though the budget session of the state legislative assembly was adjourned till Monday due to protest demonstration by the opposition BJP and JD-S lawmakers, both the parties on Friday reiterated their demand for a CBI probe into Ravi's death.

"The ruling Congress is trying to hush up truth behind the case by raking up Ravi's personal life and dragging a woman IAS officer who was his batchmate into the issue," JD-S floor leader and former chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy told reporters here.

According to preliminary investigation into the case, which has been registered under section 174 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), hinting at suicide and not under 302 IPC (murder), Ravi had made several calls to the woman IAS officer hour before he hanged around 11:30 a.m. and also sent messages to her through his mobile confessing his love for her and that "we'll meet in our next life".

As part of the CID investigation, the woman IAS officer concerned was summoned by Chief Secretary Kaushik Mukherjee and collected her version on Ravi's calls, messages and e-mails.

"It's strong wish of the six crore people of the state, including Ravi's family that the case should be investigated by the CBI so that truth can come out," Kumaraswamy said.

Accusing the state government of selectively leaking information and planting stories in the media that Ravi was a victim of "love triangle" to mislead the public even before the CID submitted its interim report, Kumaraswamy wondered if the probe was limited to phone calls Ravi made to the woman officer before his death or even to the calls pertaining to raids he conducted recently in Bengaluru on tax defaulters and builders.

"It is also shocking to learn that the chief minister had told a local news channel that Ravi made 44 calls from his mobile to the woman officer on the day he died. How does he know? Is he the investigation officer? Who gave him such details when the probe is still underway?" Kumaraswamy noted, citing media reports.