Sonia directs Siddaramaiah to refer Ravi case to CBI

Concerned at the growing public outrage over the mysterious death of IAS officer D K Ravi, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Friday asked Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to refer the case to the CBI. 

“The Congress president has advised the chief minister of Karnataka to hand over the inquiry into IAS officer D K Ravi’s death to the CBI,” said party general secretary in-charge of Karnataka Digvijay Singh.

Siddaramaiah is likely to make a formal announcement in this regard on Monday as the Legislature is in session.

The Congress chief also instructed former chief minister S M Krishna to meet Ravi’s family and convey the party’s keenness to hand over the probe to the Central agency to ensure an impartial investigation.

Krishna met Ravi’s wife Kusuma and father-in-law Hanumantharayappa at their residence in Bengaluru on Friday evening. He is likely to meet Ravi’s parents at Doddakoppalu village in Tumakuru district on Saturday, sources told Deccan Herald.

Sonia’s “advice” to Siddaramaiah came after she held a discussion with senior leaders, which indicated that the party’s image had suffered a severe setback in the face of the State government’s refusal to accept the demand for a CBI probe.

The Congress chief is understood to have conveyed to the chief minister not to make this a “prestige issue”.

The Congress chief feels the Opposition-fuelled campaign against the government has gained ground of recent, with social activists and students taking to the streets pressing for a CBI probe. Sonia apparently spoke to political secretary Ahmad Patel, Singh and leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge.

The Congress president is said to have requested Krishna to help the State government come to grips with the situation, said sources.

Earlier in the day, Law Minister D V Sadananda Gowda criticised the State government for leaking call details between Ravi and a woman batchmate to the media saying: “The Congress government is tarnishing the image of the deceased officer and his family members.”