Bengaluru: Under pressure from the Opposition parties over his alleged role in the suicide of DySP MK Ganapathi, Bengaluru development minister KJ George said that he would tender his resignation only if Chief Minister Siddaramaiah asks him to do so.
“I am ready to face any kind of action if I am proved guilty. I haven’t done anything against my conscience. Let there be a probe. If the chief minister asks me to resign, I will do so,” he said. George claimed that he was innocent in the case. He also asked the Opposition to produce evidence to show he had harassed the late officer. He also clarified that he had not approached Ganapathi either through Lokayukta IG Pronab Mohanty or ADGP (Intelligence) AM Prasad.
An emotional George in the Assembly said, “You are Jagadish Shettar and I am K J George – that is the only difference. Our ideologies are different, but don’t say everything I do is wrong,” for which BJP leader Jagadish Shettar shot back saying,” Don’t play the minority card. First tender your resignation”.
DySP M K Ganapthi, in an interview to a news channel hours before his body was found hanging in a lodge at Madikeri in Kodagu district blamed the trio for forcing to take his own life. The two IPS officers are Additional Director General of Police, Intelligence A.M. Prasad and Lokayukta (Ombudsman) inspector general of police Pronab Mohanty.
Protest rallies held for George’s ouster
Opposition BJP on Tuesday stepped up its demand for the resignation of Karnataka Minister K.J. George for allegedly abetting the suicide of police officer through protest rallies held in various parts of the state.
Even as the opposition Janata Dal-Secular (JD-S) lawmakers also sought George’s resignation in the state assembly here, hundreds of students, social activists and citizens joined BJP cadres in the protest rallies against the state government at Madikeri, Mysuru, Tumakuru, Hubballi, Belagavi and Bidar.
“We will continue to protest till George resigns or the chief minister (Siddaramaiah) sacks him, as Ganapathi had named him in his dying declaration along with two IPS officers for harassing him and forcing to take his own life,” BJP’s state unit president and former chief minister B.S. Yeddyurappa told reporters.
The opposition parties also demanded the suspension of Prasad and Mohanty till the CID probe was completed and the inquiry was handed over to the CBI.
Accusing the chief minister of protecting the trio, JD-S leader and former chief minister H.D. Kumaraswamy asked the government why an FIR was not filed against the trio even after Ganapathi’s family filed a complaint in Madikeri police station on Monday.
