'Stubborn' K'taka Govt. trying to hush up IAS officer's death case: Shettar

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

Talking to the media outside the Raj Bhavan here, Shettar said the

leaders of the BJP and the JD (S) met Governor Vajubhai Rudabhai Vala and submitted a letter demanding a CBI inquiry into the IAS officer's death case.

"The government is not agreeing to this because they want to cover up this matter. The government is acting in a stubborn way. The way the chief minister has spoken about the personal matters of D K Ravi in an interview clearly suggests where this investigation is headed," said Shettar.

"On the one hand, he says that he will order a CID investigation, and on the other, he transfers CID officer Mohanty. There is an attempt being made to hush up the matter. There are lots of people who have vested interests in this matter, there are politicians, there are many prominent people involved in this matter," he added.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah is also scheduled to hold a Cabinet meet later in the day during which a decision is likely to be taken on whether to refer the case to the CBI.

The Karnataka Government has so far rejected the demand and asserted that the CID of the state police is capable of handling the investigation in the case.

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.