Karnataka CM orders probe into police officer's suicide

Bengaluru, July 8  The Karnataka government on Friday ordered an inquiry into the unnatural death of Deputy Superintendent of Police M.K. Ganapathy, 51, who allegedly committed suicide on Thursday at Madikeri in Kodagu district, 270 km from here.

"I have ordered a CID inquiry into the death of the DSP (Ganapathy) after I was briefed on Thursday night about the unfortunate incident at Madikeri. I am saddened by it," Chief Minister Siddaramaiah told reporters here.

Police, who found Ganapathy's body hanging from a ceiling fan with his service revolver around his waist, shifted it to a state-run hospital for autopsy to ascertain the cause of death and investigate reasons for him to take such an extreme step.

"The inquiry team will study the suicide note Ganapathy left behind in the room. Its content will also be investigated though I am not aware of what he wrote. The government will take action after getting the CID report though I too learnt that he had named two senior police officers and a minister," Siddaramaiah said.

Hours before he hanged himself, Ganapathy gave an interview to a private news channel in which he held two Indian Police Service officers and a state minister responsible for harassing and driving him to take the extreme step.

"The inquiry will also investigate the TV interview after getting its footage from the news channel and analysing its content," the Chief Minister asserted.

Ganapathy named Additional Director General of Police (intelligence) A.M. Prasad, Lokayukta Inspector General of Police Pronab Mohanty and Bengaluru Development Minister and former Home Minster K.J. George, who hails from Kodagu district, as responsible for harassing him and putting pressure on him in various criminal and corruption cases.

Though Ganapathy was posted at the IGP office in Mangaluru on the west coast, he drove to Madikeri early Thursday and checked into a lodge near the outstation bus stand and was seen going out in the afternoon in uniform.

When local police went to the lodge to ask Ganapathy about the interview, its receptionist found him hanging in the room.

This is the second such incident this week, three days after Chikkamagaluru Rural Deputy Superintendent of Police Kalappa Handibagh, 34, hanged himself at Belagavi, about 500 km from Bengaluru.

Ganapathy was transferred to Mangaluru inspector general of police office in May.

"He (Ganapathy) declared in the interview that if anything happened to him in future, George, Prasad and Mohanty would be responsible," a police source told IANS.

A 1991-batch officer of the state cadre, Ganapathy entered the police service under sports quota. He hailed from a hamlet at Siddhappur near Madikeri. He leaves behind widow Pavana and two sons.