Bengaluru: As the opposition trained its guns on the government on the suicide of DySP, M K Ganapathy in the assembly on Monday, Madikeri MLA, Ranjan Appachu took on minister, K J George for his alleged role in the affair.

Even as opposition leader, Jagadish Shettar, emphasised the importance of a man’s dying declaration, Mr Ranjan intervened to say that going by the Supreme Court ruling on such a declaration, Mr George should have been in jail by now.

A visibly angry Mr George retorted that Mr Ranjan should have given notice to the House before levelling allegations against him in the Assembly. The minister also claimed the deceased officer had not mentioned him by name.

The MLA, however, shot back saying he would produce a CD showing Mr Ganapathy naming him when speaking of the harassment he had suffered. “Are you ready to go to jail if the proof is produced?” he challenged the minister.

Angered by the remark, minister Ramanath Rai joined in to say there was a criminal case against the MLA too, which the latter countered furiously, challenging him to produce even one.

Finally it was left to Speaker K B Koliwad to cool down tempers. The Bharatiya Janata Party, meanwhile, said that it was unsure how fair the CID investigation would be under officer Hemanth Nimbalkar.

Recalling that Mr Nimbalkar's wife had unsuccessfully aspired for a Congress ticket from the Khanapur Assembly constituency during the last election, BJP leader, Jagadish Shettar said that should the Congress now offer her a ticket for the next election it could compromise the case.

“I recall the statement made by Chief Minister Siddaramaiah when Mr Rohit Vemula committed suicide in Andhra Pradesh. I wonder why this government has no similar concern for the death of its own police officer,” he added.