Karnataka IAS officer's family suspects foul play

Bengaluru, March 18, 2015: The family of deceased IAS officer D.K. Ravi on Wednesday refuted the statement made by Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah that the bureaucrat committed suicide due to personal reasons, and demanded a CBI probe saying they suspect foul play in his death. "I cannot believe my son (Ravi) 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," a wailing Gowramma, Ravi's mother, told reporters here. The 36-year-old 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 Ravi's death was a case of suicide and the state government has ordered a probe by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), Ravi's father-in-law Hanumantharayappa said his son-in-law was not the kind of person who would commit suicide. "He (Ravi) 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 had 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.