Bengaluru: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has filed a closure report or ‘B’ report in connection with its investigation into the unnatural death of D K Ravi, an IAS officer in 2015. In the 90-page report, the CBI has concluded that IAS officer D K Ravi’s death was a case of suicide where no abetment was involved, agency sources said.
The report was filed Wednesday before the Bengaluru assistant commissioner (south) the jurisdictional SDM before whom the case was registered in March 2015, the sources said.
Ravi (34), who was working as Additional Commissioner of Commercial Tax (Enforcement) in Bengaluru, was found hanging at his official residence on March 16, 2015. The CBI was handed over the case on March 23, 2015, by the Congress government in Karnataka amid theories that the officer could have been murdered for the position he had taken against realtors and sand mafia.
The CBI concluded that the IAS officer committed suicide for personal reasons. Sources said the closure report had detailed events in Ravi’s life, including his “harassment” of a female IAS batch mate, marital distress and financial dealings in a real estate project. The report also mentioned the connection between Ravi and Shelly, a Nagaland-based masseur working at Hotel Taj Vivanta on MG Road in Bengaluru. It was said that Ravi had transferred cash to her account twice – Rs 10,000 and Rs 20,000. The report also mentioned Shelly’s demand for Rs 50,000. The report also mentioned how Ravi took Shelly to a resort at Yelahanka.
The CBI report also mentioned how Ravi’s wife Kusuma was disturbed after coming to know about the intimacy between her husband and his IAS batch mate. The report also mentions how Kusuma sent a message through WhatsApp to the lady IAS officer asking her how a wife can keep quiet when a woman tries to have intimacy with her husband. It is also believed that Ravi had told his wife Kusuma to apologize to the lady IAS officer.
The CBI also found that Ravi was involved in a multi-crore land deal where he was associated with a realty company, R and H Properties, with a friend Hari Krishna, that was attempting to acquire 50 acres of restricted land with money collected from friends and family. Ravi’s wife Kusuma and his IAS batchmate’s husband were among the investors in the firm. Hari Krishna said their real estate project had run into trouble as the land acquisition was not approved by the government.
The CBI also examined Ravi’s relationship with his wife and in-laws, as well as his equations with his politician father-in-law Hanumantharayappa (Congress).
After Ravi’s death, the postmortem concluded that the cause of death was “asphyxiation due to hanging”. The Karnataka government stated that Ravi’s death was a case of suicide due to personal reasons, but the opposition demanded a CBI probe.
After taking over the case, the CBI re-examined the evidence and probed Ravi’s professional and personal life. The investigations indicated that Ravi had communicated his intent to commit suicide in a WhatsApp message to a woman IAS batch mate, whom he had been calling persistently. The Karnataka CID had stated in a report that a failed relationship with his batch mate was a key factor in Ravi’s death.
