Probe, only if Hegde heads it: DySP MK Ganapati's kin

Bengaluru/Mysuru: The bereaved family members of the late DySP M.K. Ganapati said that they want a CBI inquiry, but if the government is going ahead with a judicial probe then it should be headed by either Justice Santosh Hegde, a former Lokayukta, or Justice M.N. Venkatachalaiah, a former Chief Justice of India.

“We have lost faith in the CID and we don’t think we will get justice if the investigation is conducted by the state agency. If the judicial probe is ordered, then it should be headed by either Justice Hegde or Justice Venkatachalaiah and nobody else,” said Madapanda K. Kushalappa, Mr Ganapati’s father, on Wednesday.

Ms Pavana M.G., the widow of Mr Ganapati, too said that one of the two former judges should head the probe. “If we are not getting justice, I would even write to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”

She said, “It is not ideal to discuss our family issues in the Vidhana Soudha. The statements of ruling party members have hurt me deeply.”

On a statement by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah that if Mr Ganapati had any grievances, he should have reported them to his immediate higher-ups, she said, “He reported the harassment he suffered to his higher-ups, but they failed to take adequate steps.”

On the statement that if Mr Ganapati was emotionally hurt, family members should have instilled courage and hope in him, she said, “We had done our best to instill confidence and hope in him. But because of the harassment by the government and police department, he had lost his self-esteem and took the extreme step. The government has to take responsibility for his death,” she said.

Mr Kushalappa said, “How can the police department be trusted when they failed to give my daughter-in-law Pavana an acknowledgement for the complaint she filed on Ganapati’s death? It was only after the superintendent of police gave his approval around midnight that the policemen at the Madikeri Town Police station gave us an acknowledgement.”

He said, “I don’t know why my other son M.K. Thammaiah gave a statement that Ganapati was depressed. If he was depressed, he would obviously not be fit for a post like DySP’s. Why would an officer like him, with a gun, be promoted? Thammaiah probably gave the statement as he is still a serving officer and did not want to go against the department.”

Mr Nanjappa, Kushalappa’s friend and neighbour, said, “The panchanama was done without a tahsildar and Kushalappa, who was in a shock after seeing his son hanging from the ceiling, was made to sit in an adjacent room. There, policemen approached him and got a piece of paper signed.”

He said, “Kushalappa signed without reading it, assuming that it was a legal formality to move the body for the postmortem. When it starting coming out in the media that Kushalappa too had said that his son was suffering from depression, did he lose faith in the system.”

‘It Was Lodge Receipt, Not Suicide Note’
The piece of paper that DySp M.K.Ganapati's father spotted  on a small table next to his body and which the family believes could be a suicide note was a receipt from the lodge for the room and a bus ticket, said police sources in Madikeri Town, who say they handed it over to CID officials, investigating the case. Ganapati's family however are refusing to believe the police version, insisting that this is a cover up.

Didn’t suspect he would commit suicide: TV journo
The late DySP M.K. Ganapati had gone to a local TV news channel studio in Madikeri around 11 am in an auto. Though his monologue went on for 44 minute, the journalists did not have any clue that it was going to be his dying declaration.

After the interview, he seemed relaxed. He offered Rs 1,000 to a studio employee, who offered him coffee and snacks and also another Rs 1,000 to the cameraman who recorded the interview. Both politely refused and asked him to have lunch in the studio.

Mr Ganapati told them that he had ordered lunch from outside.  He left the studio in the same auto and headed to Vinayaka Lodge where he committed suicide.  “Mr Ganapati seemed normal and did not show any sign or intention of hanging himself soon after,” said the journalist, who wondered what could be the trigger. 

CID officials issue a gag for juniors
The CID officials are tightlipped over the progress of the investigation into the suicide of DySP M.K. Ganapati. It is learnt that senior officials have issued a gag order on investigating officials and their subordinates, as the assembly session is in progress.

Sources from the CID claimed that the investigating officials are probing into Ganapati’s call detail records. It is also learnt that the postmortem report has been handed over to the investigating team, and the CID is likely to send it to FSL on Wednesday. The report was prepared by doctors who performed the postmortem at the Kodagu District Hosptial.