Bengaluru, Nov 25: Twenty months after the death of IAS officer D.K. Ravi (34) in March 2015, the Central Bureau of Investigation has filed a closure report with the Assistant Commissioner calling it “suicide due to personal reasons”.
According to sources, a team of officials, who conducted a probe, filed a 90-page report with Assistant Commissioner D.B. Natesh, who, in turn, would file the same with the Madiwala police station to close the case. The CBI believes Ravi's suicide was prompted by multiple personal reasons. It does not pin-point a reason, though.
A senior police officer said in any case relating to unnatural death, the closure report is submitted to the executive magistrate. In this case, the assistant commissioner, who has conducted the inquest, is the official who comes into the picture. “Usually, the assistant commissioner takes the closure report on record,” he said.
Widespread protests
A 2009 batch IAS officer, Ravi was found hanging from the ceiling of his house in Koramangala on March 16, 2016. He was then serving as Additional Commissioner of Commercial Tax (Enforcement), Bengaluru.
The state government handed over the probe to the CBI when the impression spread that he had been murdered for his tough action against tax evaders, especially realtors.
People had protested across Karnataka, seeking a CBI inquiry. The CBI eventually examined the post-mortem report and recorded the statements of Ravi's friends and relatives.
The post mortem had said the death was caused by asphyxiation from hanging. This was confirmed by the Central Forensic Science Laboratory in Chennai and the All India Institute of Medical Sciences in Delhi. The viscera test had also established that no toxic substance had entered the body, a source said.
Earlier, the Criminal Investigation Department had submitted before the Karnataka High Court that a series of WhatsApp messages, extracted from Ravi's mobile phone, had established the death as a suicide. Ravi had messaged a woman batchmate.
Ravi was worried about a land development project in Chikkaballapur district he was involved in. His father-in-law Hanumantharayappa, besides his friends and batchmates, had invested in it. Ravi's efforts to convert the SC/ST land for non-agricultural use had not materialised.
Hanumantharayappa said it wasn't likely problems related to the project had pushed Ravi to suicide. “Yes, it is true I had invested some money in his project on his request. The money has not gone anywhere and it is still a viable project. He had not lost any money on it. I am sure there was no reason for him to end his life thinking it can't be revived,” he said.
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