BENGALURU: A day after IAS officer D K Ravi was found dead in his house, the social media in one voice called for a CBI inquiry into the matter.
The Facebook page ‘DK Ravi - IAS Death is Murder Not a Suicide’ (https://www.facebook.com/dkravideath) received more than 35,000 likes in a little over 24 hours after it was set up. The description of the page reads, “He (Ravi) is not a coward to (commit) suicide. We request the police department to find the culprits.” The page kept people informed about the developments in the case, like the shifting of Ravi’s body to Victoria Hospital for autopsy and even his last rites.
Rahil Ahmed S, digital marketing consultant and entrepreneur who started the Facebook page, said although he did not know Ravi personally, his life has been an inspiration for him as he himself is an IAS aspirant.
“Once I started the page, his supporters started sending me their personal experiences with Ravi and I shared them on my page to gather more support. One thing is clear: he was a person with a heart of gold who never accepted a bribe and always fought against corrupt businessmen, ministers and officials,” he told Express.
“Honesty never dies. No money or muscle power can buy the kind of support Ravi got today.”
Over On Change
A campaign started on www.change.org requests Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to take a call on the matter and order a CBI probe. “He is a person whose transfer to Bengaluru from Kolar was met with protests,” said petitioner Uttishta Bharatha. The petition got more than 7,500 signatures within 12 hours.
“The manner and circumstances of his death are suspicious and I don’t have enough trust in the current government to solve this case,” said Dheeraj Desai, one of the signatories.
Twitter too was flooded with tweets asking people to protest; the hashtag #DKRavi was trending in Bengaluru. “If people don’t raise their voice now, then why should any officer do his/her job honestly?” said a user who goes by the handle @amitsingh2203. Another user Rakesh Singh (@rakeshinteriors) tweeted, “How many more lives will we lose? Raise your voice against corruption #DKRavi.”