BENGALURU: The government railway police (GRP), which is investigating the alleged death by suicide of Vice-Chairman of the Karnataka Legislative Council SL Dharmegowda, are under tremendous pressure to unearth the reasons that led Dharmegowda to take the extreme step, as they have to report the status of the investigation on a daily basis to the government.
Sources said that the investigation is being directly monitored by Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) of Railways Arun Chakravarthy and the updates of the investigation were being shared with Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa and other top officials of the Home Department.Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla had on Wednesday sought a high-level independent inquiry into the circumstances surrounding the death. Even this seems to have added to the mounting pressure on the police.
“As it is a high-profile case, naturally, there is pressure to find the reasons that led to the suicide at the earliest. However, any investigation demands its own time and we are carrying out a detailed probe,” a senior officer said on the condition of anonymity.The police are still awaiting the results of the post-mortem and other technical reports and they can arrive at a conclusion only after they get them. “Despite the pressure, we are in no hurry to wind up the case soon. We have seen in some high-profile cases earlier how official statements, though correct, had put the police in a tight spot and also embarrassed the government,” another official said.
“Though we have information about the reasons that drove him (Dharmegowda) to take the hasty step, we are yet to corroborate them. Until then, we cannot pinpoint any particular reason,” the official said, adding that the process of recording the statements was being done.Dharmegowda, a JD(S) MLC and the Vice-Chairman of the Legislative Council, was found dead on a rail track in Chikkamagaluru district, on Tuesday morning.