IANS/Bengaluru

The family of a senior bureaucrat who was found dead yesterday refuted Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah claims that he committed suicide due to personal reasons.
They also demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation probe saying they suspect foul play in their son D K Ravi’s death.
“I cannot believe my son could commit suicide as he was a brave officer and had no marital discord. We suspect he was killed. The state government should order a CBI probe to know the truth,” Ravi’s mother Gowramma told reporters here.
The 36-year-old Indian Administrative Service officer who was the additional commissioner in the state commercial tax department was found dead on March 16 in his official apartment. His body was found by his wife Kusuma when she entered the flat with a duplicate key after he did not respond to her calls.
Though police maintain that prima facie the death was a case of suicide and the state government has ordered a probe by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), his father-in-law Hanumantharayappa said Ravi was not the kind of person who would take such an extreme step.
“He was like a friend to me. He was very strong and not a man to commit suicide. We suspect foul play. If he committed suicide, there must be a strong reason for it.
“Even when he spoke to me recently, he told me that there was no place for people who worked honestly. The reason for his death, even if it is suicide, has to be probed, which is possible only through a CBI inquiry,” Hanumantharayappa said.
Refuting the statements made by Siddaramaiah and Home Minister K J George that Ravi committed suicide “for personal reasons,” the IAS officer’s mother wondered how they could say so and on what basis without facts.
“Who told them that my son committed suicide for personal reasons? And what are those reasons? We did not speak to anyone so far, not even police officials, as we have been mourning Ravi’s loss and busy with his last rites,” Gowramma said.
Rejecting the charges against the state government by Ravi’s family, opposition parties and sections of the public, Siddarmaiah said as the CID was competent to investigate the case, there was no need for a CBI probe.
“The CID is capable of handling the investigation. No need for a CBI inquiry,” he told lawmakers in the assembly.
Recalling that her son had studied hard to become an IAS officer and worked for people’s welfare wherever he was posted, Gowramma said Ravi had promised her he would return to his home district Tumakuru, about 70km from Bengaluru, as deputy commissioner and would solve the drinking water problem in the district.
“Ravi was keen to return to Tumakuru as deputy commissioner, as it was his native place, and tackle basic problems like drinking water, housing and civic amenities,” she said.