By P.T. Bopanna
The Congress-led Siddaramaiah government in Karnataka has lost its credibility by resorting to dirty tricks to malign the family of Dy SP M.K. Ganapathi, who allegedly committed suicide in Madikeri after blaming minister K.J. George and two senior police officials.
A shameless home minister G. Parameshwara went to the extent of claiming in the Karnataka Assembly that the late police officer was ‘tormented’ by his wife which trigged the suicide.
Parmeshwara was quoting from the initial statement of Ganapathi’s father Madapanda Kushalappa which was later withdrawn by the father of the deceased. In fact, Kushalappa had told the media: “I didn’t complain against my daughter-in-law Pavana. They (police) had prepared a written statement and told me to sign it before handing over my son’s body. I only signed it and didn’t know what was written.”
It is no secret that the moment Ganapathi’s video blaming minister George and two other police officials went on air, the chief minister and his men in Bengaluru initiated damage control exercise to protect George at any cost.
It is a well-known fact that minister George is closely connected with the Gandhi family as he is known to be one of the main fund-raisers for the Congress party in Karnataka.
The dirty-tricks brigade of the chief minister headed by his advisor (technically advisor to the home minister) Kempaiah, a retired and disgraced police officer, initiated moves to protect George and other police officers named by Ganapathi in his television interview.
The first to be roped in by the brigade was the brother of the late police officer M.K. Thammaiah, who is a Dy SP at Ramanagaram. Even as the body of his brother was waiting for cremation, the manipulative Thammaiah told the media that his brother was suffering from depression. “Ganapathi’s allegations are false and he was hallucinating.”
Former Director General of Police Shankar Bidri has opined that the video statement of the late officer should be considered as ‘dying declaration’. To insulate the criminals named by Ganapathi, the police have gone to the extent of refusing to register an FIR on the complaint lodged by Pavana and her son where they have maintained that the trio, including George, were responsible for abetting the suicide.
The only course left to the government is to drop minister Kelachandra Joseph George from the ministry and book cases against the police officers named by the late Dy SP. George has had a controversial past and his name has figured in various scams. He has proved yet again that he is a liability and he must be dropped immediately from the ministry.
