Karnataka Home Minister R Ramalinga Reddy on Wednesday, 13 December, announced that the case of the mysterious death case of BJP activist Paresh Mesta will be handed to the CBI.
We have taken a decision to hand over the matter to the CBI. I have directed the Director General of Police and Chief Secretary to do the formalities.R Ramalinga Reddy to ANI
Twenty-one-year-old Mesta had gone missing on 6 December but his body was found on 8 December near a lake in Honnavar, Bengaluru. His family members alleged that he was abducted and killed. The police, however, have denied their claim.
Mesta’s body has been sent for postmortem and the results are awaited for further investigation.
Members of the BJP have called his death a result of communal violence. Reddy said the BJP is making such claims because they want to keep this issue alive till the Assembly elections, reported The Hindu.
The post mortem report will take another eight to 10 days. Once the report is out, we will get to know the exact reason behind his death. The BJP has been levelling several allegations with regards to the case, as they seem to be interested in keeping the issue alive till the Assembly elections. They had employed the same strategy with IAS officer DK Ravi’s case by alleging that police officials were behind his death. However, the CBI gave a clean chit. I have discussed the issue with Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and we have decided to hand it over to the CBI.R Ramalinga Reddy to The Hindu
(With inputs from PTI, ANI and The Hindu)
(At The Quint, we are answerable only to our audience. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member. Because the truth is worth it.)