Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Friday came out in defence of former state Home Minister KJ George and two other senior police officers, a day after they were charged for allegedly driving senior police officer MK Ganapathy to commit suicide last year.
Siddaramaiah said George, who is the Karnataka development and town planning minister, could not influence the Central Bureau of Investigation’s inquiry in any way, The News Minute reported. He also criticised the Bharatiya Janata Party, which had called for George’s resignation, for politicising the matter.
“There is no question of KJ George resigning,” the chief minister said. “The CBI is controlled by the government of India, therefore the charges levied by the BJP are politically motivated to tarnish the image of KJ George and the Karnataka government...An FIR is not proof of the allegation.”
In July 2016, George had resigned from his post after a Madikeri court in Karnataka had ordered an FIR be registered against him in the case. But he was inducted back into the Cabinet after the Karnataka Police gave the three accused a clean chit and closed their investigation into Ganapathy’s suicide.
The Supreme Court, however, had agreed with a plea from Ganapathy’s family, observing that “there are certain startling facts in the case” and had asked the CBI to investigate.
Ganapathy, who was the deputy superintendent of Mangaluru, was found hanging from the ceiling of a lodge in Kodagu district in July last year, a day after telling a television channel that he was being harassed by George and two senior police officers.
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