FILE photo: IAS officer DK Ravi was found dead in his apartment in Bengaluru
Nearly three weeks after DK Ravi, a senior bureaucrat in Karnataka, was found dead in his home, the CBI has said it cannot investigate the case because the state government has imposed "conditions" by giving the agency a deadline of three months.
"CBI has said 'don't put conditions like this'. We'll send it again to CBI," said Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. Later in the day, his government sent an amended request to the investigating agency.
Mr Ravi, 36, had a reputation as a fiercely honest officer who fought tough opponents including the powerful sand mafia in areas of Karnataka like Kolar, about 100 km from the capital of Bengaluru.
On March 16, he was found hanging from a ceiling fan in his apartment in Bengaluru. His wife and parents say their son did not commit suicide, an assessment offered initially by the state police. Backed by the opposition in the state, Mr Ravi's family asked for the case to be entrusted to the CBI, which was formally requested by the Chief Minister a week later. "I am announcing a CBI enquiry not because of pressure by Opposition, but because of what DK Ravi's family wants," Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said at the time.
A woman bureaucrat who was Mr Ravi's classmate has submitted to investigators a message from him on WhatsApp, allegedly sent just hours before his body was found. Sources said the message could be treated like a suicide note by investigators, though its contents have not been shared publicly.