Social networking sites, the streets and even the Floor of the Assembly – no platform was spared by supporters and admirers of IAS officer D.K. Ravi to express their grief, mourning, anger, disbelief and love for a man who won many hearts with his brave and courageous stand against the corrupt.
Thousands took to the streets in Kolar and Tumakuru districts to bid final goodbye, shops downed shutters as a mark of respect and sporadic incidents of violence was also reported. Most people simply refused to believe that he could have committed suicide.
People in Kolar, where Ravi was most popular for cracking down on the land mafia when he was Deputy Commissioner, performed pujas. Several others recounted how he helped them. They remembered him as an officer who was the rarest of rare.
Demonstrations were held outside the houses of MP K.H. Muniyappa and MLA Varthur Prakash in Kolar, with people holding politicians responsible for Ravi’s transfer (in 2014) for his “uncompromised actions against the sand and land mafia”.
Many protesters demanded that Ravi’s body be brought to Kolar for people to pay their last respects and asked for a CBI inquiry into his death.
Gopal (42), a farmer, committed suicide by hanging himself at his residence in Thirumalahalli under Mulbagal police limits as he was allegedly depressed after hearing about the death of the officer.
Normal life was affected owing to Tuesday’s bandh in the district. A few instances of stone pelting were reported, while a petrol pump was vandalised. Vehicular movement on the Chennai–Bengaluru National Highway was affected from Monday evening owing to road blockade by protesters.
Protest in Kunigal
Protests broke out in Kunigal taluk too, from where the officer hailed. A bandh was observed with shops and other commercial establishments remaining closed and vehicle staying off the roads. Schools and colleges were also closed as students participated in a protest march. Protests were also held in Mandya and Kalaburagi.
March
In Bengaluru, where the officer was found dead, about 1,800 students, research scholars, teaching and non-teaching faculty of the University of Agricultural Sciences-Bangalore, from where Mr. Ravi completed his graduation course, took out a protest march on the campus.
Social media
Social media was abuzz with netizens creating “pages” with titles such as ‘Justice for D.K. Ravi’ and ‘D.K. Ravi: death is murder and not a suicide’.
