Karnataka DySP MK Ganapati failed to recognise me, says police colleague

Mangaluru: DySP M.K. Ganapati, who had spent a good number of years in Dakshina Kannada district in various capacities, is said to have been disturbed with various developments over the last few days.

Sources close to him agreed that Ganapati was visibly disturbed in his last days. “He knew me very well as we were serving in Dakshina Kannada district. But about 15 days ago, he failed to identify me, which was shocking,” an officer told Deccan Chronicle.

“Though our common friend tried to remind him, Ganapati did not seem to recollect our association. He later started talking only about his problems. He seemed disturbed by two cases – the controversy related to the fake encounter and recovery of robbed loot. Both the cases had brought him bad name,” he said.

“He had faced an inquiry and was also suspended. This had broken him. He kept talking these issues till we left. We could make out that he was disturbed,” he said. Many of Ganapati’s colleagues, including his driver, said that they too had similar experiences as the officer had suffered a memory loss and failed to identify them.

“Various developments might have affected him. Also, he might have had some health issues,” another officer said. “A posting to the IGP’s office is non-executive. A DySP usually does not wear a uniform or carry a gun. But a few days ago, he reportedly asked the department to issue him a revolver. There is a provision for this. More than the harassment by his higher-ups, Ganapati was disturbed by the cases and suspension,” he said.

Sources said that one of the major allegations against him was the police excess during church attacks in Mangaluru in 2008. It was alleged that the police led by Ganapati had assaulted innocent people in a church and a nearby school. There was a departmental inquiry too into the incident. But he was later transferred to Bengaluru and was also promoted.

Named but not charged?
Even as serious questions are being raised about why Madikeri police didn’t register a case under Section 306 (abetment of suicide) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) against the Cabinet minister and senior IPS officers in the suicide case of M.K. Ganapati, deputy superintendent of police, departmental inquiry, Mangaluru though he had named them in an interview with a local television just hours before he ended his life, legal experts told this newspaper that before the police register a case of unnatural death report (UDR) under Section 174 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) the blood relatives of the deceased should mention in Column 9 of the report that they suspect foul play and abetment to their kin’s suicide.

“They have to fill up Column 9 for the police to register a suicide case under Section 306 of the IPC. In the case of DySP, of Chikkamagaluru subdivision - Kallappa Handibag (35), who had committed suicide early this week in Murgod town in Savadatti taluk in Belgavi district after he was suspended on charges of kidnapping a man for Rs 10 lakh ransom, the police have registered a case under Section 306 IPC for abetment after his family cried foul play and filled up the Column 9,” said an official source. When reporters questioned IGP (Southern Range), B. K. Singh about this, he maintained that the police would invoke 306 as the investigation progresses.

Bidari flays police top brass
But, the move was lambasted by former DG & IGP Shankar M Bidari. “The reason for the incident is the fact that the police leadership has been rendered imbecile and have become conduits for extortion by the political masters, majority of whom are dacoits in the guise of public servants, regardless of the party they belong to.” “Whatever reasons Ganapathi has stated in the video tape is equal to dying declaration. It has to be taken it at its face value unless proved otherwise by equally substantiate evidence,” Bidari added.