44 calls? IAS officer DK Ravi just made one to woman batchmate, says CBI
Bengaluru/New Delhi: IAS officer DK Ravi, who was found dead at his home in Bangalore on March 16, had apparently telephoned a woman IAS batchmate only once on the day of his alleged suicide as against claims that he had called her 44 times, CBI has found in its preliminary report.
The agency clarified Wednesday that it is yet to arrive at any conclusion as far as the unnatural death of the 2009-batch Karnataka cadre IAS officer was concerned and that the probe is still on in this regard.
Sources, meanwhile, said the agency has gone through his call records and found he had made only one call to the woman IAS officer whereas it was reported that 44 calls were made by him to her.
Several officers of the state government who were apparently behind such leaks are under the scanner of CBI as it wants to identify those who are trying to sully the image of the deceased officer, the sources added. They said it was possible that people leaking these inputs to the media were actually acting on the instructions of some persons who feared exposure during the course of the probe.
"CBI would like to state that all aspects/hypotheses relating to unnatural death of Ravi are being inquired into. The matter is under investigation and conclusion is yet to be drawn in the matter," CBI spokesperson Kanchan Prasad said here.
Evidence sent to central Forensic laboratory
The CBI has sent all the forensic evidence, including the photographs taken after Ravi's death, his viscera sample and other evidence recovered by Karnataka Police to te Central Forensic Laboratory here for a detailed analysis. The sources said that, according to the report of the autopsy conducted by the state government, the death occurred due to hanging, but the agency has not yet concluded whether or not it was a suicide.
They said that only the first round of questioning of all the persons concerned, including family members, close IAS batchmates, driver and other members of the probe team, has been done while the report from CFSL is awaited. It would be difficult to ascertain the cause of death until a detailed forensic report is available, they added.
Ravi, who was posted as Additional Commissioner, Commercial Tax (Enforcement), was found dead at his residence in Bengaluru. The matter snow-balled into a major controversy with Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah initially refusing to seek a CBI probe into the case. However, following a public outcry, the case was handed over to the central investigative agency.
