The Karnataka government has handed over the investigation into IAS officer DK Ravi's death to the Central Bureau of Intelligence, confirmed chief minister Siddaramaiah on Monday.
"I have decided to hand over the case to CBI for investigation," he said in the Karnataka State Assembly on Monday.
Pressure had been mounting on the government to hand over the case to CBI ever since the day 35-year-old DK Ravi was found dead in his apartment. The police and government called it a case of suicide immediately after reports of his death surfaced, resulting in strong protests alleging a cover-up of the issue by calling it a simple case of suicide.
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On Monday, Siddaramaiah told the State Assembly that a senior official of the CID had begun the investigation on the case already, and though he had said he would give a status report on the investigation while the assembly was in session, it was deemed unacceptable the Opposition, which demanded a CBI probe into the case.
"Our objective is not to cover up. We are not trying to protect anybody," he said on Monday. "We have faith in our police, and I have not criticised CBI nor said anything against CBI."
Despite the handing over of the case, the Opposition have said that they are unhappy with the delay, and that the case should have been given to CBI to investigate as soon as DK Ravi's death came to light.
DK Ravi was found dead in his apartment on March 16.
Congress chief Sonia Gandhi had written a letter earlier to DK Ravi's wife, assuring her of a fair investigation. She had already advised the Karnataka CM last week to hand over the case to CBI.
Meanwhile, in a twist to the case, the state high court had stayed the tabling of the CID interim report that CM Siddaramiah had planned on presenting to the Karnataka State Assembly on Monday. The court order came following a petition by the husband of a female IAS officer, after she told police that Ravi had been "harassing" her. She is a critical witness in the case, as call records have shown that she was one of the last people he spoke to the day he was found dead.
According to reports, she had also written to Karnataka Chief Secretary Kaushik Mukherjee two months ago regarding this.
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