Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Wednesday described the charges of harassment made against Minister K.J. George and two senior IPS officers by Deputy Superintendent of Police M.K. Ganapathy hours before his alleged suicide as “illogical, irrelevant and impossible to believe”, and added that his statement cannot be treated as a dying declaration.
Replying to the two-day debate in the Assembly on Ganapathy’s death, the Chief Minister said the charges made by the deceased Dy.SP against Mr. George and IPS officers A.M. Prasad and Pronab Mohanty lacked clarity.
‘Prejudiced’
Ganapathy had alleged that Mr. George, who held the Home portfolio from 2013 till recently, was prejudiced against him following church attacks in his jurisdiction way back in 2008. But there was no evidence to prove the charge as it was during the Mr. George’s tenure as Home Minister that Ganapathy got promoted as Dy.SP earlier this year, Mr. Siddaramaiah maintained.
He dismissed the allegation that Mr. Mohanty had demanded money from the Dy.SP as illogical by pointing out that both of them worked in different zones. He also brushed aside the allegation that Mr. Prasad had asked Ganapathy to make transport arrangements for his son to reach college, saying it lacked any evidence.
Alleging that the Opposition parties had made it a habit to frequently demand the resignation of Mr. George for some reason or the other, he urged them to desist from indulging in “character assassination”.
Media’s role
Indirectly faulting the media, the Chief Minister maintained that it would have been possible to save the life of Ganapathy if the private TV channel that interviewed him had immediately alerted the local police about his statements.
Opposition members, however, took exception to the reply of the Chief Minister and termed it “irresponsible”.
