File: Mr Ravi belonged to Tumakuru district in Karnataka and will be laid to rest there today in a hero's farewell. (PTI photo)
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah has rejected the opposition's demand for a CBI inquiry into the death of 36-year-old IAS officer DK Ravikumar. Speaking exclusively to NDTV, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said, "It will be a CID probe. The police are perfectly capable of investigating the matter. There is no requirement for a CBI inquiry."
But the opposition BJP remains adamant on its demand for the CBI inquiry. Several senior opposition leaders were gathered inside the Vidhana Soudha where they will spend the night.
Senior BJP Leader K S Eshwarappa told NDTV, "On what grounds have the police so quickly decided it was a suicide case. There should be a free and fair inquiry into the death."
Opposition leaders say they will continue with their protests until a CBI inquiry in the case is ordered. Mr Siddaramaiah, who met the opposition members at the Vidhana Soudha, said, "I tried to persuade them to the let the budget session continue, but they didn't agree."
The young bureaucrat was found dead in his apartment in Bengaluru on Monday. His wife returned home to find him hanging from a ceiling fan.
In Kolar, where Mr Ravikumar was famous as a fearless district collector who took on the sand mafia, there was a bandh, with transport off the roads today and schools and colleges staying shut. In Bengaluru, parties like the Aam Aadmi Party and Jai Karnataka held protests.
In Bengaluru, his classmates and juniors at the University of Agricultural Sciences, in which he studied, gathered to talk about him and hold a candlelight vigil at Freedom Park.
The police have said they suspect suicide, though they found no note.