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IAS officer death; party asks CM to hold CBI probe

Last Updated 20 March 2015, 14:47 IST
Amid growing chorus for a CBI probe into the mysterious death of an upright IAS officer, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah was today advised by Congress president Sonia Gandhi to hand it over to the central agency.

Congress General Secretary and in charge of party affairs in Karnataka, Digvijay Singh said in New Delhi that Gandhi has advised Siddaramaiah to hand over the case to CBI.
Facing rising public anger, the Chief Minister also today met Governor Vajubhai Val and briefed him about the developments in the case.

"I have met the Governor. I have explained him about the developments in Ravi's case till date," Siddaramaiah told reporters after meeting the Governor at Raj Bhavan.
He said "Governor has heard what we have explained to him; we have told him investigation is going on and investigation has been handed over to CID."

The family of 35-year-old D K Ravi, the officer who was found hanging from a ceiling fan at his flat on March 16, also today staged a protest where they remained unrelenting on their demand for a CBI probe.

"My son was like a tiger... he would not have committed suicide. He is the son of the country...," an emotional mother of Ravi, Gowramma, said, as she broke down. Ravi's brother Ramesh said only a CBI probe should be held.

There has been a clamour for CBI probe from BJP and JDS who have been blocking proceedings of the Assembly for the last three days. The House will resume its sitting on Monday.

Protests continued in Bengaluru and Kolar, where Ravi had served as Deputy Commissioner earning reputation as an upright and pro-people officer before being moved to the state capital as Additional Commisioner of Commercial Taxes (Enforcement) in which role he took on several big firms in real estate.

Stepping up pressure, BJP and JDS MLAs had yesterday marched in a procession from Vidhana Soudha, the state secretariat, to Raj Bhavan and requested Governor to advise the Siddaramaiah Government to refer the case to CBI.

Home Minister K J George had made it clear after a cabinet meeting yesterday that there was no change in the stand of the government, which has come under attack from the Opposition and others for "stonewalling" central probe.

BJP today announced that it would intensify protests and stage dharna on Sunday to press for a CBI probe and also move a privilege motion against the Chief Minister in the Assembly for "leaking" stories deliberately to hush up the truth.

Various pro-Kannada organisations have called for a dawn to dusk statewide bandh on March 28 demanding CBI probe. Kannada Chaluvali (movement) leader Vatal Nagaraj said it was not against the government but "to seek justice".

Speaking to reporters here, JDS leader and former Chief Minister H D Kumaraswamy charged the Congress Government with raking up the personal life of Ravi and dragging the name of a woman IAS officer who was his batchmate into the issue.

"The wish of six crore people of this state and media is that truth has to come out.In such a situation fresh feathers irrespective of its credibility are being added to the case," he said.

He accused the government of selectively floating information and stories in the media to mislead the public about this case.

Kumaraswamy questioned whether investigation has been limited to unearthing alleged telephonic calls made by him to a woman IAS officer before his death or it would extend to raids conducted by him against big builders and tax defaulters during the last one month.

He also questioned the Chief Minister on his reported remark that 44 calls were made by Ravi to a woman IAS officer on the day of his death. "Were truly 44 calls made to the lady officer on that day? Who gave this information to Chief Minister?"

Kumaraswamy alleged that the woman officer's statement was recorded from 10 pm to 2 am and it has been videographed, adding that now she has been asked to move out of the state.
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(Published 20 March 2015, 13:18 IST)

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