Will ask UP to probe Anurag Tiwari's death, says CM Siddaramaiah

Bengaluru: The state government has decided to ask the Uttar Pradesh government to investigate the death of IAS officer,  Anurag Tiwari, who died mysteriously in his hometown in UP,  amidst allegations that he was murdered when he was about to unearth a Rs 2000 crore scam in the state’s Food and Civil Supplies Department.

Speaking to reporters here on Friday, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said the government would officially write to the UP government asking for the investigation and cooperate with it fully while it carried it out.

He was dismissive when asked about the allegation that the IAS officer was murdered to stop him from spelling the beans on a scam in the Food and Civil Supplies Department, saying it could not be taken seriously. “The preliminary inquiry has revealed  the officer died of cardiac arrest. If there is anything more to his death, the investigation will reveal it. We are giving all the information needed to the Uttar Pradesh government and it can seek any clarification it wants '' he maintained.

Meanwhile, felicitating 69 judges and 19 government lawyers for using Kannada in the judiciary, Mr Siddaramaiah said from next year other lawyers, who also argued their cases in Kannada in court would  be felicitated as well.

“Over 90 percent of litigants speak Kannada and do not understand English. Most of the time such litigants are under the impression their advocate is arguing their case well and then fail to understand how they lost it. Besides, some lawyers speak in English and keep taking adjournment dates, dragging the cases for decades. So the Kannada Development Authority will be told to identify all advocates, who argue their cases in Kannada, and felicitate them from next year,” he added.