IAS officer DK Ravi’s death triggers massive protest in Karnataka

mangaloretoday.com// yahoo

BENGALURU, March 17: A day after IAS officer DK Ravi, was found dead in his official residence in Bengaluru, protests erupted across the city, with locals in Kolar calling for a shut-down demanding a probe into his death.

The protesters mainly volunteers from the Aam Aadmi Party and pro Kannada group Jai Karnataka demanded a CBI enquiry into the death of 36-year-old IAS officer.

The 36-year-old Ravi, of the 2009 batch, was joint commissioner in the commercial tax department since November 2014 following his transfer from Kolar where he was deputy commissioner.

 

 

 

Ravi, who took on the sand mafia in Karnataka’s Kolar District, was found dead under mysterious circumstances at his residence in Bengaluru’s posh Koramangala locality on Monday.

Union Law Minister Sadananda Gowda said everybody suspects that Ravi’s death was a cold blooded murder and urged the Karnataka government to look into the matter.

"Everybody suspects it’s a cold blooded murder. We Request state government to look into it. If they need help from Centre or want CBI to investigate, we will pressurise Home Ministry on this," said Gowda.

Meanwhile, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramiah also said the city police was capable of investigating the mysterious death of IAS officer D.K. Ravi and added that it remained to be seen if the case will be referred to the investigating agencies.

 

 

 

Bengaluru Police Commissioner M.N. Reddi has said that forensic and medical evidence hinted that IAS officer D.K. Ravi’s death was prima facie a case of suicide. He added that a thorough investigation was on and warned against jumping to any conclusion.

State Home Minister K J George, Energy Minister D K Shiv Kumar, Congress lawmaker from Kolar District K R Ramesh Kumar and a dozen senior tax officials have paid condolence visits on the Ravi family on hearing about his death.

George said that all angles will be looked into to determine what caused Ravi’s death. He also described the death as a great loss to the state of Karnataka.

Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju said that the death of Ravi is a serious matter, but added that the Central Government will not intervene at this stage.

"This is a serious issue because it involves a senior official. We have raised the issue in the house also," said Rijiju.

"It is difficult for the Central Government to intervene in the functioning of the State Government because this case is directly related to them," he added.

BJP spokesperson GVL Narasimha Rao told ANI: ’The incident of a young IAS officer, who has been found dead in his apartment, is extremely shocking and intriguing. The fact that he was involved in some kind of a drive against builder mafia certainly raises many questions and suspicions. So far the information available does not give out any details about factors leading to his death.’

"We certainly expect the state government and the state police to come out with case facts related to the death of the young officer. There have been several attempts of honest officers having been killed in the past, we hope the state government takes appropriate notice and immediately acts against the culprits, if any are involved," he added.