City Police Commissioner M.N. Reddi’s statement outside Prestige St. John’s Wood apartment complex, where IAS officer D.K. Ravi was found dead on March 16, caused much controversy. Many objections were raised to Mr. Reddi’s comment that prima facie it was a case of suicide.
Mr. Reddi had to put in much effort not only to answer the questions of prying media persons but also to place himself appropriately for the cameras. The media persons had to wait for long outside the apartment picking up bits of information as rumour mills worked overtime. As Mr. Reddi emerged, more than 50 media personnel armed with mikes and cameras, gheraoed him and chaos ensued. None could hear what Mr. Reddi was saying. As media persons objected to this, a constable brought a chair that belonged to a watchman at the gate. As the constable put the chair down, Mr. Reddi was quick to get the message. He climbed on the chair so that he was visible and audible to the crowd and the cameras.
A brief pause
Thousands of people gathered and thronged the street where the body of officer D.K. Ravi was placed. This stood testimony to the love, affection and respect he enjoyed. His fans and followers wanted to capture his last moments and began clicking pictures of the body. Grieving family members objected to this. Yet, this did not stop them from clicking pictures.
It was only after a senior police officer came and snatched away a few mobile phones that the crowd stopped photographing. But, seconds after the officer went away the crowd went back to taking pictures.
K.V. Aditya Bharadwaj
