Ganapati's suicide: Judicial panel yet to begin probe

Bengaluru: The judicial inquiry into the suicide of deputy superintendent of police, Mangaluru, M.K. Ganapati, is yet to be formalised three weeks after it was announced by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah.

Official sources said that the government is trying to provide logistic support and infrastructure to the one-man commission of former Justice K.N. Keshavanarayana to inquire into the officer’s suicide and the circumstances that may have led him to take the extreme step. “The government is in the process of providing infrastructure support like office space, transport and some staff to the commission. Once these things are in order, the commission will start its inquiry,” said an officer on condition of anonymity.

The chief minister, rejecting the Opposition demand for a CBI probe, had instituted the one-man judicial commission on July 13. The DySP had ended his life in a private lodge in Madikeri on July 7 after he gave an interview to a local TV channel in which he had alleged harassment by then Bengaluru Development Minister K.J. George and senior IPS officers – then ADGP, Intelligence, A.M. Prasad and IGP Lokayukta Pronab Mohanty.

The Criminal Investigation Department, which was earlier entrusted with the investigation into the unnatural death report case of Mr Ganapati under Section 174 of the CrPC, is now under the direction of court to hand over the investigation in the FIR, which was registered against Mr. George and the two IPS officers under Section 306 (abetment) r/w 34 of the IPC at the Madikeri Town police station. The High Court had directed the DG&IGP Om Prakash to hand over the investigation to a senior IPS officer since the accused are senior raking IPS officers.

Subsequently, the police chief on August 3 had ordered that since the CID had already investigated the UDR case they can be entrusted with the abetment case, which will be supervised by the DGP, CID Kishore Chandra.