The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has given a clean chit to the former home minister and Sarvagnanagar MLA, KJ George and two senior IPS officers, who were earlier booked by the agency for abetment of suicide in Mangaluru Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP) MK Ganapathy death case.
The probe agency had submitted a report to Madikeri JMFC court in October 2019, exonerating charges against MLA KJ George and senior IPS officers Pranav Mohanty and AM Prasad. The investigating agency in its 260-page report terminated the allegations against the trio claiming that Ganapathy's death was a case of suicide and the people accused had no role in it.
On 7 July 2016, DySP Ganapathy was found hanging from the ceiling fan of a room at a lodge in Madikeri. Two suicide notes were found in which he had accused the trio of harassment due to which he had to take the extreme step.
Before his death, while giving an interview to a local channel, Ganapathy said that, then Karnataka Home Minister KJ George, former ADGP of Intelligence AM Prasad and Pranab Mohanty, then IGP-Lokayukta were constantly harassing him and if something happens to him, they should be held responsible.
Mangaluru Church attack
Initially, police had closed the case claiming that it was a suicide but his family members alleged that the police is refraining from taking action in the case as the suspects have an influence in the government and filed a petition against this.
Ganapathy's family had alleged that George was rancour against him after Mangaluru Church attack in 2008, where activists of Bajrang Dal and Shri Rama Sene attacked Kulshekara Church in the district causing a serious riot. The deceased officer was heading the investigation then and had arrested several members of the Christian community for violence.
After the allegations from his family, the case was transferred to CBI for further investigation by the court. CBI had then booked all three under Section 306 (abetment of suicide) read with Section 34 (conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
