Bengaluru: Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Monday decided to handover the death case of IAS officer D K Ravi to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) for investigation.
“I have decided to handover the case to the CBI for investigation. I had said that CID will investigate and a senior official of CID had started the investigation. We will give a status report on the investigation while the assembly is in session, but even that is not acceptable to the opposition,” said Siddaramaiah in the Karnataka State Assembly.
Before calling for a CBI probe in the case, he said the government’s objective was not to cover up anything and that it is not trying to protect anybody. “This government wants to give fearless environment for officers to work efficiently. We have faith in our police. I have not criticized the CBI and not said anything against it. The CBI is an institution that works independently, so does the CID,” he added.
He further said that he has faith in the police, the CID and democracy. “One shouldn’t do politics over death. We are not here to make political capital over deaths,” he added. The chief minister’s political capital remark was met by an opposition uproar in the assembly.
Earlier in the day, Congress president Sonia Gandhi wrote a letter to Ravi’s wife assuring her of a fair probe in the death case of her husband. Karnataka Pradesh Congress president G Parameshwara had earlier on Saturday requested Siddaramaiah to order a CBI inquiry into the case and had said that the truth in this matter should come to the fore without any confusion.
Ravi, posted as Joint Commissioner in Commercial Tax Department, was found hanging from a ceiling fan in his apartment by his wife on March 16. The police suspect it to be a case of suicide, though no note was found from around the officer's body.
The state government, which ordered a probe by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in the case, has so far ruled out a CBI inquiry.