IAS officer's death case: Siddaramaiah briefs Governor, says 'investigation on'

Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, who is under sharp criticism from various quarters for not handing over the death case of IAS officer D.K. Ravi to the CBI, met Governor Vajubhai Rudabhai Vala here on Friday and briefed him about the latest developments.

"The Governor wanted to know the details, I told him about it," he told the media here.

Siddaramaiah added that the investigation is on into the IAS officer's death case.

Leader of Opposition in the Karnataka Assembly, Jagadish Shettar, had earlier on Thursday accused the Siddaramaiah-led state government of acting in a stubborn manner over the IAS officer's death case, and said that it was trying to hush up the matter by not agreeing to the demand for a CBI probe.

Family members of the bureaucrat had staged a sit-in protest earlier on Wednesday, demanding a CBI probe into the incident after their meeting with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.

Several organisations, including the ABVP, are staging protests and criticizing the state government for not handing over the case to the CBI.

The state government has ordered a probe by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in the case.

The CID, which is collecting statements from the people who interacted with Ravi during the time preceding his death, is expected to submit its interim report in a couple of days.

Whistle blower Ganesh Kondaliya had earlier on Tuesday said that the deceased officer was planning raids on big developers to unearth commercial tax evasion and had discussed about the real estate developers with the latter over phone on March 12.

The 2009 batch IAS officer, who was deputed as the Joint Commissioner of the state's Commercial Taxes Department, was found mysteriously hanging by a fan in the bedroom of his private apartment in South Bengaluru's Tavarekere earlier on Monday.