Ganapti (51) was found hanging from the ceiling fan in a room at a lodge in Madikeri where he had gone on Sunday, police said. He left behind a purported ‘suicide note’, they said, adding the reason for him taking the extreme step was not clear. 

The DySP, in an interview to a local news channel in Madikeri, alleged that a politician and higher police officials were harrassing him, police said. 

Reacting to the incident, Opposition leader in the Assembly Jagadish Shettar said that BJP would take up the issue in the session and launch a protest, demanding the resignation of guilty police officials and the politician. 

Ganapati was a native of Munjarayapattana, Siddhapur near Madikeri and belonged to the 1991 batch. He was a former sportsman and entered service through the sports quota. 

On July 5, the body of DySP of Chikkamagaluru sub-division Kallappa Handibag (35), accused of kidnapping a person for ransom, was found hanging in his father-in-law’s home at Murgod in Belagavi district. 

In another case, former DSP Anupama Shenoy had resigned her post last month over alleged interference in her work by a minister. She had written the women’s commission accusing Ballari Superintendent of Police R Chetan of harassing her by succumbing to political pressure.