TUMAKURU: A year later, the ‘suspicious’ death of late IAS officer D K Ravi has not yet been solved by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
On Sunday his parents, brother and fans organised his first death anniversary in a grand manner at Doddakoppalu village near Huliyurudurga in Kunigal taluk.
According to sources, Ravi’s mother Gowramma even pawned her gold ornaments to meet the expenses. Some of his fans, including small-time politicians, too contributed, they added.
As thousands of his relatives and fans from across the state, especially from Kolar, where he had made a name as DC, gathered at the village, the family members felt it’s a fitting response to the ‘insensible’ Congress-led state government. Interestingly, Ravi’s wife Kusuma, father-in-law Hanumantharayappa, aide of Energy Minister D K Shivakumar, gave the ceremony a miss despite being invited.
Non-vegetarian food, a tradition in these parts, was arranged for over 1,000 people. The fans paid tribute to Ravi at his grave and over hundreds of them donated blood at the venue. M K Chandru from Bengaluru released a book on Ravi while a student, Ashalatha, who came from Kolar, said she wants to become like Ravi by clearing civil services exam. She said she will accompany his mother till March 16.
“The government did not give justice to us, though Ravi did a lot of good work,” said Ravi’s mother Gowramma. “My son was not a coward to commit suicide.” His older brother D K Ramesh said the government has not helped them financially. “It issues compensation to the martyrs’ families, but ignored Ravi who had saved over `130 crore for the state’s exchequer,” he said.
He pointed out that the district administration has not paid the expenditure on Ravi’s funeral. One of his subordinates in Kolar, D K Ramesh, said he has been contributing `5,000 to Ravi’s family as it was in financial crisis. Ravi’s father Kariyappa was a mute spectator to the entire event.